[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61134-61135]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-16702]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038346; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: Wesleyan University, Middletown, 
CT

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Wesleyan University intends to repatriate 
certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated 
funerary objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian 
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after August 29, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Wendi Field Murray, Wesleyan University (Archaeology & 
Anthropology Collections), 265 Church Street, Exley Science Building, 
Middletown, CT 06459, telephone (860)-685-2085, 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 
Wesleyan University and additional information on the determinations in 
this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the 
summary or related records. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    A total of six cultural items have been requested for repatriation. 
The six unassociated funerary objects are one projectile point covered 
in red ochre and five ceramic sherds. The projectile point is a long-
stemmed point of grey chert. Approximately six and one-half inches 
long, the point has a triangular blade, and the entire surface is 
covered in red ochre. According to available records, the object was 
donated to Wesleyan University by George M. Southmayd in 1890. 
Southmayd (1824-1908) was a Middletown businessman whose family 
operated a funeral home on Main Street for several decades. Collections 
records indicate that the collector of the object is unknown, but that 
it was found near the Air Line Depot in Middletown, CT the same year it 
was donated (1890). No other objects appear to have been donated with 
it.
    The five ceramic sherds were all received in a transfer from the 
Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan University in 1874. One is a grit-
tempered sherd with a hole drilled through it and cross-hatched surface 
impressions (1971.411.1); two of the sherds are shell-tempered with 
cord-marked surface impressions (1971.411.2-.3); and two sherds are 
sand or grit-tempered with cord-marked surface impressions 
(1971.411.4-.5). According to Wesleyan's records, all five objects were 
collected by William Andros at an unknown date from ``an Indian burying 
ground on the CT River in East Hartford, CT.''
    No cultural affiliation information was included in the records of 
the taking or the transfer, though their geographical origin and the 
well-documented cultural and historical connections between the joint 
claimants, central Connecticut, and the Connecticut River indicates a 
cultural affiliation with the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe and the 
Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut.
    The presence of potentially hazardous substances (i.e., pesticide 
residues) on these particular objects is unknown. In 2021, Wesleyan 
University discovered the presence of pesticide residue (arsenic) on 
one organic object from Samoa that was transferred from the Smithsonian 
in the 19th century, as well as several taxidermy specimens. This 
suggests the possibility that other objects in the collection may be

[[Page 61135]]

contaminated. While pesticides were not typically applied to stone or 
ceramic objects due to their inherent resilience to pest damage, the 
objects have potentially been intermingling with organic objects in a 
large ethnographic teaching collection since the late 19th century, so 
cross-contamination is a possibility.
    There is one documented instance of pest fumigation relating to the 
collections that dates to 1972-1973. This was to treat a silverfish 
infestation in underground storage rooms that held the museum's objects 
after it closed. The proposal was for the application of 
dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) to the floors, the placement of 
open containers of paradichlorobenzene (PDB) around the room, and the 
placement of a mildew-retarding insecticide inside the wraps of 
specimens. The specific contents of the room in which the chemicals 
were applied, and to what extent they were shielded from them, is 
unknown.

Determinations

    Wesleyan University has determined that:
     The six unassociated funerary objects described in this 
notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with 
or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death 
or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American 
culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a 
lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The 
unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance 
of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or 
families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an 
individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe 
or Native Hawaiian organization.
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural 
items described in this notice and the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe 
and the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified 
in this notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be 
submitted by 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 cultural items in this notice to a requestor 
may occur on or after August 29, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, Wesleyan University must determine the most 
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint 
repatriation of the cultural items are considered a single request and 
not competing requests. Wesleyan University is responsible for sending 
a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice and to any other consulting 
parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

    Dated: July 17, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-16702 Filed 7-29-24; 8:45 am]
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