[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 59 (Tuesday, March 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21005-21006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-06270]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037625; 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 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.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after April 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, and additional information on the determinations in this notice, 
including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or 
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Based on the information available, human remains representing, at 
least, one individual have been reasonably identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present. Dr. R.W. Amidon and Oren Pomeroy removed 
these human remains from the Perch River Bay site in Jefferson County, 
NY, in 1902. Amidon and Pomeroy donated the individual's remains to the 
Robert S. Peabody Institute (RSPI) in 1902. In 1937, the RSPI donated 
the individual's remains to the PMAE. Museum documentation indicates 
that the Perch River Bay site is located along the shore of Lake 
Ontario, at the head of Perch River Bay (now known as Black River Bay), 
in the township of Brownville, southwest of the village of Limerick, on 
what was then the farm of Julius Maynard. Interments from this site 
most likely date to the Late Woodland Period (A.D. 1000-1600). 
Artifacts from the Perch River Bay site, but not associated with the 
burials, support this date. These items include stylistically 
diagnostic ceramic rim sherds exhibiting zoned and incised collars with 
castellated rims.
    Based on the information available, human remains representing, at 
least, one individual have been reasonably identified. The 32 
associated funerary objects include 31 objects that are present in the 
Peabody Museum collections and one object that is currently missing. 
The 31 present associated funerary objects are one broken canid tooth, 
one canid jaw, one fox mandible, one raccoon mandible, one incised 
ceramic pipe bowl, two stone fragments, two worked groundstones, one 
stone tool, one piece of stone debitage, one bag of soil, 11 ceramic 
sherds, one lot of ceramic sherds, five lots of faunal remains, one lot 
of ceramic sherds and faunal remains, and one lot of charcoal, faunal 
remains, ceramic sherds, and soil. The one associated funerary object 
currently missing is one lot of faunal remains. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from the Durfee Farm site in 
Jefferson County, NY, by Mark Raymond Harrington and Irwin Hayden in 
1906 as part of a Peabody Museum Expedition. Museum documentation 
indicates that the Durfee Farm site is in the township of Ellisburg, 3 
miles north-northwest of the village of Pierrepont Manor, between 
Taylor Brook and Spring Brook, in the vicinity of a scattered group of 
farmhouses that were known locally as the ``Taylor settlement.'' The 
site lies on a low, flat-topped hill historically known as the ``Old 
Fort lot,'' once belonging to the old Durfee farm. Interments from this 
site most likely date to the Late Woodland Period (A.D. 1000-1600). 
Artifacts recovered from the site, but not associated with the burials, 
support this date. These items include Levanna- and Madison-style 
projectile points, ceramic vessels with globular bodies, constricted, 
zoned incised necks, and castellated rims, and a variety of terra cotta 
pipes, including pipes with trumpet-shaped bowls and bowls with 
representations of human faces and animals.
    Based on the information available, human remains representing, at 
least, one individual have been reasonably identified. The 83 
associated funerary objects include 81 objects that are present in the 
Peabody Museum collections and two objects that are currently missing. 
The 81 present associated funerary objects are 25 ceramic sherds, two 
lots of ceramic sherds, one rounded ceramic sherd, 10 ceramic pipe 
fragments, two bone awls or perforators, three worked animal bones, one 
drilled stone, one possibly chipped stone, one quartz flake, one quartz 
pebble, seven rounded or ribbed stones, two ground stones, one celt or 
adze, one lot of charred wood, one shell, 20 animal bones, and two lots 
of faunal remains. The two associated funerary objects currently 
missing are one lot of notched bones and one lot of faunal remains. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from the 
Heath Farm site in Jefferson County, NY, by Mark Raymond Harrington and 
Irwin Hayden in 1906 as part of a Peabody Museum Expedition. Museum 
documentation indicates that the Heath Farm site is on the western 
border of the township of Rodman, approximately 1.5 miles west of the 
village of Rodman, along the northern bank of the North Sandy Creek. 
Interments from this site most likely date to the Late Woodland Period 
(A.D. 1000-1600). Artifacts recovered from the site, but not associated 
with the burials, support this date. These items include Levanna- and 
Madison-style projectile points, ceramic vessels with globular bodies, 
constricted, zoned incised necks, and castellated rims, and a variety 
of terra cotta pipes, including pipes with trumpet-shaped bowls and 
bowls with representations of human faces and animals.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available 
about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in 
this notice.

Determinations

    The PMAE has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 115 objects described in this notice are reasonably 
believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual 
human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite 
or ceremony.
     There is a reasonable connection between the human remains 
and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Oneida 
Indian Nation; Oneida Nation; and the Onondaga Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary

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objects in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative 
identified in this notice under 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 April 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 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.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: March 15, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-06270 Filed 3-25-24; 8:45 am]
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