Notice2024-03091
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Andover, MA
Primary source
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Published
February 15, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology 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. The cultural items were removed from unknown locations in Tennessee and sites along the Little Tennessee River, Monroe County, TN.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 32 (Thursday, February 15, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 32 (Thursday, February 15, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11864-11865]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03091]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037388; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Robert S. Peabody
Institute of Archaeology, Andover, 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 Robert S. Peabody Institute of
Archaeology 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. The cultural items were removed from unknown locations in
Tennessee and sites along the Little Tennessee River, Monroe County,
TN.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after March 18, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Ryan J. Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology,
Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, telephone (978)
749-4490, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2a585d424f4f464f586a4b444e455c4f58044f4e5f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2755504f42424b4255674649434851425509424352">[email protected]</span></a>.
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
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology. 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 summary or related records held by
the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology.
Description
Fourteen cultural items were removed from Monroe County, TN. The 14
unassociated funerary objects are two lots of ceramic sherds (271/01
and 271/15), one antler tool (271/02), one lot of unmodified shell
(271/03), one shell ornament (271/04), three lots of chipped stone
tools and tool-making debitage (271/05; 271/07, and 271/08), one
obsidian pestle (271/09), three lots of ground stone tools (271/11;
271/13; and 271/17), one bone flute (271/19), and one stone axe (271/
16). In 1942, George Sherwood removed cultural items from several
historic Cherokee town sites along the Little Tennessee River above
Fort Loudoun. Sherwood transferred the cultural items to the Robert S.
Peabody Institute of Archaeology (then known as the Robert S. Peabody
Foundation for Archaeology) in 1981.
Ninety-six cultural items were removed from unknown sites in
Tennessee, likely northwestern Tennessee. The 96 unassociated funerary
objects are three lots of stone anvils, one lot of stone axes, nine
lots of stone bifaces, three lots of stone celts, nine lots chipped
stone tools, one lot stone choppers, one lot stone cores, two lots
stone debitage, four lots stone edge tools, two lots chipped stone
flakes, three lots ground stone items, four lots hammerstones, nine
lots knives, three lots miscellaneous stone tools, one lot mortars, one
lot stone nodules, one lot pebbles, four lots stone perforators, two
lots stone pestles, 24 lots chipped stone points, eight lot scrapers,
and one large animal tooth. Catalog numbers for these cultural items
range from 25433 through 25530, with the exception of Catalog ID 25434,
which was not assigned. In 1903, Mollie Hall, a resident of
Hopkinsville, KY, transferred 96 cultural items from Tennessee to the
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology (then known as the
Department of Archaeology, Phillips Academy). More detailed provenance
was not given for the cultural items, though Hall may have been
removing items from localities in northwestern Tennessee, near
Hopkinsville, KY, where she lived.
Cultural Affiliation
The cultural items 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, geographical information, historical
information, and expert opinion.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology has
determined that:
<bullet> The 110 cultural items described above 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 and
are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed
from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Cherokee
Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and the United Keetoowah Band
of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.
Requests for Repatriation
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in
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 March 18, 2024. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the Robert S. Peabody Institute of
Archaeology 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. The Robert S.
Peabody Institute of Archaeology 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
[[Page 11865]]
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. 3004, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.
Dated: February 7, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-03091 Filed 2-14-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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