[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 241 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59189-59190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23165]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N6722; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041463; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Yale Peabody Museum, Yale 
University, New Haven, 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), the Yale Peabody Museum 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 in this 
notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after January 20, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Erika Edwards, Yale 
Peabody Museum, P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 06520-8118, 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 
Yale Peabody Museum, and additional information on the determinations 
in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in 
its inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Human remains representing, at least, five individuals have been 
identified. The six associated funerary objects are one lot of fauna, 
one lot of modified stone, one lot of unmodified stone, one of 
ceramics, one lot of modified shell, and one of wood. In 1869, Reverend 
Edward Osborne (E.O.) Dunning removed collections from Brakebill Mound 
(40Kn55) in Knox County, Tennessee, near the junction of the French 
Broad and Holston Rivers. The collection was purchased and received by 
the Yale Peabody Museum in early 1870.
    Human remains representing, at least, 22 individuals have been 
identified. The six associated funerary objects are one lot of fauna, 
one lot of modified stone, one lot of unmodified stone, one lot of 
ceramics, one of modified shell, one lot of modified shell and bone 
(fauna). In early 1870, Dunning removed collections from McBee Mound 
(40Je10) and its immediate vicinity in Jefferson County, Tennessee. The 
collection was purchased and received by the Yale Peabody Museum in 
April 1870.
    Human remains representing, at least, 13 individuals have been 
identified. The five associated funerary objects are one lot of fauna, 
one lot of modified stone, one lot of ceramics, one of modified shell, 
one of unmodified shell. Dunning removed collections from Lick Creek 
Mound (40Gn2) in Greene County, Tennessee, circa 1871-1872. The 
collections were purchased and received by the Yale Peabody Museum in 
March 1872. Dunning's initial descriptions of Lick Creek Mound, 
situated at the confluence of the Nolichucky River and Lick Creek, 
incorrectly referred to it as Lisles Mound.
    Human remains representing, at least, four individuals have been 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. Following 
Dunning's death in March 1874, a portion of his remaining 
archaeological collections, excavated between 1869-1872, were donated 
to the Yale Peabody Museum by his wife. At least two individuals were 
attributed to an unknown county in Tennessee, and at least two 
individuals were attributed to an unknown county in Tennessee or North 
Carolina.

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 Yale Peabody Museum has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 44 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 17 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 connection between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Cherokee 
Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; 
and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary 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 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with 
cultural affiliation.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January 
20, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Yale 
Peabody Museum 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 Yale Peabody Museum is responsible for sending 
a

[[Page 59190]]

copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in this notice and 
any other consulting parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: November 25, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23165 Filed 12-17-25; 8:45 am]
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