Notice2024-16702
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 30, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61134-61135]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[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
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#abdcc6ded9d9cad29b9aebdcced8c7ced2cac585cecfde"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6c1b01191e1e0d155c5d2c1b091f0009150d0242090819">[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
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:
<bullet> 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.
<bullet> 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]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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