Notice2024-25189
Notice of Proposed Transfer or Reinterment: Wesleyan University, Archaeology & Anthropology Collections, 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
October 30, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Wesleyan University proposes to transfer human remains listed in a notice of inventory completion published in the Federal Register on August 12, 2024.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 210 (Wednesday, October 30, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 210 (Wednesday, October 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86356-86357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25189]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038957; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Proposed Transfer or Reinterment: Wesleyan University,
Archaeology & Anthropology Collections, 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 proposes to transfer
human remains listed in a notice of inventory completion published in
the Federal Register on August 12, 2024.
DATES: Repatriation, transfer, or reinterment of the human remains in
this notice may occur on or after November 29, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendi Field Murray, Wesleyan
University (Archaeology & Anthropology Collections), Middletown, CT
06459, telephone (860) 685-2085, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5d2a30282f2f3c246d6c1d2a382e3138243c3373383928"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9deaf0e8efeffce4adacddeaf8eef1f8e4fcf3b3f8f9e8">[email protected]</span></a>.
Individuals who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech
disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
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 its
inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
This notice follows publication of a Notice of Inventory Completion
in the Federal Register (89 FR 65657-65658, August 12, 2024). Human
remains representing, at least, 16 individuals have been identified. No
associated funerary objects are present. The remains of these 16
individuals were once part of an osteological teaching collection,
which included skeletal elements that had been prepared and used for
anatomical instruction
[[Page 86357]]
sometime between the 19th and 20th centuries. In August 2013 any human
remains in the osteological collection that showed evidence of having
been disinterred (visible soil/staining, water damage, and weathering)
rather than mechanically cleaned/prepared by a medical supply vendor or
other entity were presumed to be Native American. Wesleyan has no
records suggesting their geographic origin or acquisition history.
The presence of potentially hazardous substances (i.e., pesticide
residues) on these remains in 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. While pesticides were
not typically applied to human skeletal remains, they were managed
together with organic objects in a large ethnographic teaching
collection, 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 or paradichlorobenzene (PDB) around the room, and the
placement of a mildew-retarding insecticide inside the wraps of museum
specimens. The specific contents of the room in which the chemicals
were applied, and to what extent they were shielded from them, is
unknown.
Consultation
Invitations to consult were sent to the Mashantucket Pequot Indian
Tribe; Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut; and the Narragansett
Indian Tribe. Invitations to consult were also sent to the following
non-federally recognized Indian groups: Brothertown Indian Nation,
Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation; Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation; and
the Schagticoke Indian Nation. The Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe and
the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut responded to the invitation
and participated in consultation. Other Indian Tribes and/or groups
either chose to defer, participated in preliminary phone calls, or did
not participate.
Cultural Affiliation
No information about the cultural affiliation of the human remains
in this notice are available. The information, including the results of
consultation, identified:
1. No earlier group connected to the human remains.
2. No Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization connected to the
human remains.
3. No relationship of shared group identity between the earlier
group and the Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization that can be
reasonably traced through time.
Determinations
Wesleyan University has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 16 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> No known lineal descendant who can trace ancestry to the
human remains in this notice has been identified.
<bullet> No Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation to the human remains in this notice has been
clearly or reasonably identified.
<bullet> The Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe and the Mohegan Tribe
of Indians of Connecticut have requested transfer of the human remains
described in this notice.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this
notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this
notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Requests for repatriation
may be submitted by any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native
Hawaiian organization 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, transfer, or reinterment of the human remains
described in this notice may occur on or after November 29, 2024. If
requests for repatriation are received, Wesleyan University must
evaluate the requests and respond in writing to the requestors.
Wesleyan University is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to
any consulting lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: October 25, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-25189 Filed 10-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 30, 2024.
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