[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 38 (Monday, February 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14094-14095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03803]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037459; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 associated funerary objects and has determined that 
there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Cross and Poinsett Counties, AR.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after March 27, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, PMAE, Harvard University, 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, seven individuals were 
removed from Stanley Mounds, also known as the Parkin Site (state site 
number 3CS29; Parkin Phase) in Cross County, AR in 1879 as part of a 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology expedition led by Edwin 
Curtiss. The 42 associated funerary objects include: 39 lots consisting 
of ceramic vessel or vessel fragments and three lots consisting of 
faunal items.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 10 individuals were removed 
from Fortune Mounds (state site number 3CS71; Parkin Phase) in Cross 
County, AR in 1880 as part of a Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology expedition led by Edwin Curtiss. The 16 associated funerary 
objects include 11 lots consisting of ceramic vessel or vessel 
fragments; one lot consisting of copper items; and four lots consisting 
of faunal items.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from Halcomb's Mounds (state site number 3CS28; Parkin Phase) 
in Cross County, AR in 1880 as part of a Peabody Museum of Archaeology 
and Ethnology expedition led by Edwin Curtiss. The two associated 
funerary objects include one lot consisting of ceramic vessel or vessel 
fragments, and one lot consisting of a copper item.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 54 individuals were removed 
from Neeley's Ferry Mounds (state site number 3CS24; Parkin Phase) in 
Cross County, AR in 1880 as part of a Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology expedition led by Edwin Curtiss. The 66 associated funerary 
objects include: one lot consisting of ceramic items; 53 lots 
consisting of ceramic vessel or vessel fragments; eight lots consisting 
of faunal items; one lot consisting of red pigment; two lots consisting 
of stone items; and one lot consisting of stone or coal fragment.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were

[[Page 14095]]

removed from Robinson's Mound (Parkin Phase) in Cross County, AR in 
1880 as part of a Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 
expedition led by Edwin Curtiss. The two associated funerary objects 
are one lot consisting of ceramic vessel or vessel fragments and one 
lot consisting of faunal bones and vessel fragments.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 52 individuals were removed 
from Rose Mound (state site number 3CS27; Parkin Phase) in Cross 
County, AR in 1880 as part of a Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology expedition led by Edwin Curtiss. The 73 associated funerary 
objects include: one lot consisting of a ceramic item(s); 51 lots 
consisting of ceramic vessel or vessel fragments; one lot consisting of 
a clay item; one lot consisting of a copper item; 13 lots consisting of 
faunal items; and six lots consisting of stone items.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual was removed 
from Hazel (state site number 3PO6) in Poinsett County, AR in 1970 by 
Jeffry P. Brain and Stephen Williams as part of the Lower Mississippi 
Survey Expedition. At that time, the Survey Expedition was a project of 
Harvard University. No associated funerary objects are present.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects 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 information, archeological information, 
biological information, folklore, geographical information, historical 
information, kinship, linguistics, oral tradition, other relevant 
information, or expert opinion.

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 129 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 201 objects described in this notice are reasonably 
believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at 
the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Quapaw Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects 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.
    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 and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after March 27, 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 and associated 
funerary objects 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 16, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-03803 Filed 2-23-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P