[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13372-13373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03584]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037418; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) has completed an inventory of 
human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation 
between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations in this notice. The human remains were removed from 
Newport County, RI.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after March 25, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 
496-3702, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
PMAE. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice. Additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the inventory or related records held by the PMAE.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from the Tiverton graves at Anaquaket Neck in Newport County, RI, by 
Andre Robeson in 1869 during a Peabody Museum Expedition directed by 
Jefferies Wyman. Copper staining on the remains indicate that the 
individual was buried sometime during the Historic/Contact period or 
later (post-A.D. 1500). In addition, the remains are described in PMAE 
sources as ``Pocasset,'' and such a specific attribution suggests that 
the burial dates to the Historic period. According to historic 
documentation and consultation with representatives of the Wampanoag 
Repatriation Confederation, the Pocasset are a historically known 
Wampanoag community. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from the Stone Bridge burial site in Tiverton, Newport County, RI at an 
unknown date by an unknown collector. The interment most likely dates 
to the Historic/Contact period or later (post-A.D. 1500) as the Stone 
Bridge burial site is a known Historic period burial ground. In 
addition, the remains are described in PMAE sources as ``Pocasset,'' 
and such a specific attribution suggests that the burial dates to the 
Historic period. According to historic documentation and consultation 
with representatives of the Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation, the 
Pocasset are a historically known Wampanoag community. No associated 
funerary objects are present.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains in this notice are connected to one or more 
identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a 
relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier 
groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were 
used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological, 
archeological, geographical, historical, and oral tradition.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the PMAE has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice 
and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the

[[Page 13373]]

Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this 
notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice and, if joined to a request 
from one or more of the Indian Tribes, the Assonet Band of the 
Wampanoag Nation, a non-federally recognized Indian group.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after March 25, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the PMAE must determine the most appropriate 
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the 
human remains are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. The PMAE is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this 
notice.
    This notice was submitted before the effective date of the revised 
regulations (88 FR 86452, December 13, 2023, effective January 12, 
2024). As the notice conforms to the mandatory format of the Federal 
Register and includes the required information, the National Park 
Service is publishing this notice as submitted.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: February 9, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-03584 Filed 2-21-24; 8:45 am]
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