Notice2025-04374
Notice of Inventory Completion: Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Primary source
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Published
March 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the M[uuml]tter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 51 (Tuesday, March 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12565-12566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04374]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039486; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: M[uuml]tter Museum of the College
of Physicians of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
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 M[uuml]tter Museum of the College of
Physicians of Philadelphia has completed an inventory of human remains
and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the
human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in
this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or
after April 17, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Kate Quinn, Executive Director, M[uuml]tter Museum and
Historic Medical Library, College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 19 S
22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103, telephone (215) 399-2336, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#214a5054484f4f61424e4d4d4446444e4751495852484248404f520f4e5346"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="630812160a0d0d23000c0f0f0604060c05130b1a100a000a020d104d0c1104">[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
M[uuml]tter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, 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, three individuals have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. The human
remains consist of a radius (1277.24) belonging to one individual and a
cranium (1006.143) belonging to another. A placenta belonging to a
third individual was used to create a corrosion preparation
(1090.7512). (Corrosion preparations are ones in which the vasculature
of an organ has been injected with a wax-like substance and the
biological material then corroded away with an acidic material to leave
the wax-like substance. Although some microscopic biological material
may adhere to the wax, such preparations have been considered
representations of biological material made from a non-biological
substance.) Dr. James Ewing Mears donated the radius and cranium to the
museum. The date of donation is unknown, but Mears was a fellow of the
College from 1868 until his death in 1919. The placenta from which the
corrosion was created was donated by a Dr. Strangerwald [sometimes
written Strangerwold] to the Austrian physician Josef Hyrtl, who
prepared the corrosion. The M[uuml]tter Museum purchased 24 placental
corrosions, including this one, from Hyrtl in 1874. Records indicate
that the radius (1277.24) was removed from ``an ancient graveyard''
near Honolulu and that the cranium (1006.143) was from Oahu. No
location is available for the placenta used to create the corrosion
preparation (1090.7512), but the placenta was indicated to be from a
South Sea Islander and the doctor who donated the placenta to Josef
Hyrtl resided in Hawaii. No associated funerary objects are present.
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 described in this notice.
Determinations
The M[uuml]tter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia
has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of three individuals of Native Hawaiian ancestry.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains described
in this notice and the Hui Iwi Kuamo'o.
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 ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:
1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice.
2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization not identified in this notice who shows,
[[Page 12566]]
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 described in this notice to a
requestor may occur on or after April 17, 2025. If competing requests
for repatriation are received, the M[uuml]tter Museum of the College of
Physicians of Philadelphia must determine the most appropriate
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the
human remains are considered a single request and not competing
requests. The M[uuml]tter Museum of the College of Physicians of
Philadelphia is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the
Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this
notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: February 4, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-04374 Filed 3-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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