Notice2024-26083
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
November 12, 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
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2024)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89031-89033]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26083]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039001; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Wesleyan University, Middletown,
CT
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 December 12, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Wendi Field Murray, Wesleyan University (Archaeology &
Anthropology Collections), 265 Church Street, Middletown, CT 06033,
telephone (860) 685-2085, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3c4b51494e4e5d450c0d7c4b594f5059455d5212595849"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f0879d8582829189c0c1b08795839c9589919ede959485">[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 257 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The 257 unassociated funerary objects are shell ornaments and beads,
stone mortars/vessels, bone tools, digging stick weights, a spherical
stone object, a stone pendant, bifacial manos, stone pestles, stone
weight/sinker, glass beads, cut shell with ochre, asphaltum skirt
weights, shell fishhooks, a bird bone whistle, a stone plummet, stone
knives, black chia seeds, and red ochre.
Dos Pueblos, CA
Sixty-four objects, including shell beads and ornaments and one
stone pestle, were taken by Paul Schumacher from Dos Pueblos, CA in
Santa Barbara County during the 1870s. They were all transferred from
the Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in
1878.
[[Page 89032]]
Santa Barbara County, CA
One hundred-twenty objects originated in Santa Barbara County, CA.
They include a stone vessel, a bone tool, asphaltum skirt weights,
shell beads, a shell ornament, and an abalone fishhook blank taken by
Paul Schumacher in the 1870s; a stone vessel, a digging stick weight, a
stone sphere, bifacial manos, shell beads and ornaments, a stone
plummet, and stone knives taken by Stephen Bowers in the 1870s; and
black chia seeds ``from an Indian grave'' taken by Lt. George Montague
Wheeler sometime prior to 1878. They were all transferred from the
Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in 1878.
There are two additional objects from Santa Barbara County (a stone
pestle and a stone tube pipe) taken by Schumacher and originally
included in 1878 transfer paperwork (as well as a 1971 collections
inventory) but were discovered to be missing by Wesleyan collections
staff in 1999. It has not yet been found, but for future reference this
object has the same provenance and cultural affiliation as the
Schumacher-related objects listed above.
Santa Cruz Island, CA
Forty-one objects originated in Santa Cruz Island, CA. They include
a stone pestle, and shell beads and ornaments taken by Paul Schumacher
in the 1870s; and shell beads and ornaments, a shell fishhook, a bone
tool, and a bird bone whistle taken by Stephen Bowers in the 1870s. Two
of the shell ornaments are not definitively attributed to an individual
collector in museum catalog records but are listed as being taken by
``Stephen Bowers OR Paul Schumacher.'' They were all transferred from
the Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in
1878.
Santa Rosa Island, CA
Fifteen objects originated in Santa Rosa Island, CA. They include
bone tools/implements, stone pestles, and shell beads and ornaments
taken by Stephen Bowers in the 1870s. One of the objects (a string of
beads) is not definitively attributed to an individual collector in
museum catalog records but are listed as being taken by ``Stephen
Bowers OR Paul Schumacher.'' They were all transferred from the
Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in 1878.
There is one additional object from Santa Rosa Island (glass beads
attributed to ``Indian graves'' in museum catalog records) taken by
Bowers and originally included in 1878 transfer paperwork (as well as a
1971 collections inventory) but was discovered to be missing by
Wesleyan collections staff in 1999. It has not yet been found, but for
future reference this object has the same provenance and cultural
affiliation as the Bowers-related objects listed above.
``San Rosa,'' CA
Two objects attributed to ``San Rosa, CA'' in Wesleyan's ethnology
records include a polished stone plummet and stone weight/sinker. They
were taken by John Waterman sometime prior to 1899, when Wesleyan
acquired them. Based on Wesleyan's focus on collections from the
Channel Islands during the late 19th century, as well as the museum's
cataloging conventions for abbreviating ``Santa Rosa Island'' in our
records to ``San Rosa,'' these objects are also presumably from Santa
Rosa Island, and are consistent with the types of objects likely to be
included in Chumash burials.
Santa Ynez, CA
Three objects originating in Santa Ynez, CA include bone tools and
strung shell ornaments, were taken by Stephen Bowers in the 1870s. They
were all transferred from the Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's
natural history museum in 1878.
San Luis Obispo, CA
Two objects originating in San Luis Obispo, CA include two strings
of shell beads taken by Dr. Hayes in the 1870s and transferred to
Wesleyan via a transfer from the Smithsonian Institution in 1878.
Unknown CA, Likely Channel Islands
Three jars of red ochre are likely attributed to the Channel
Islands and the collecting activities of Stephen Bowers in the 1870s.
They are believed to have been transferred from the Smithsonian
Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in 1878.
Unknown, California
Three objects, including glass beads and shell beads and ornaments,
are from an unknown location in California, but are listed in museum
records as being likely connected to the collecting activities of
Stephen Bowers and/or Paul Schumacher in the 1870s. They were all
likely transferred from the Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's
natural history museum in 1878.
There is one additional object from California (a stone projectile
point) taken by Bowers and originally included in 1878 transfer
paperwork (as well as a 1971 collections inventory) but was discovered
to be missing by Wesleyan collections staff in 1999. It has not yet
been found, but for future reference this object has the same
provenance and cultural affiliation as the Bowers-related objects
listed above.
Both Stephen Bowers' and Paul Shumacher's collecting was prolific
in the Channel Islands and other parts of California during the 1870s--
both worked for the Smithsonian and were known to excavate Chumash
burials. The looting of Native American burials figures prominently in
the documentation of their work via reports and personal journals,
making it likely that the items are from funerary contexts. They were
initially delivered to the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1878, they
were included in a large (Smithsonian) transfer of cultural objects
originating in the Channel Islands and other parts of California to
Wesleyan University's natural history museum.
For those objects from the Smithsonian attributed to Dr. Hayes and
Lt. GM Wheeler, the nature of the objects, the known the timing of
their taking, and their association with Wesleyan's bulk acquisition of
CA funerary objects from the Smithsonian during the late 19th century
make it likely that they are also unassociated funerary objects.
Nothing is known about Jonathan Waterman, though the nature of the
items suggests that they are likely funerary objects.
No cultural affiliation information was included in the records of
the taking or the transfer, though their geographical origin and the
well-documented cultural, historical, geographical, and linguistic
connections between the claimants and the geographical areas in from
which these were taken indicates a cultural affiliation with the Santa
Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
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
contaminated (particularly those transferred from the Smithsonian, as
the requested objects are). While pesticides were not typically applied
to non-organic 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 1870s, and possibly
with natural
[[Page 89033]]
history specimens as well. To what extent Wesleyan staff attempted to
mitigate cross-contamination when objects were stored or handled is
unknown.
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 257 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 Santa Ynez Band of Chumash
Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.
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 December 12, 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: October 29, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-26083 Filed 11-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 12, 2024.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.