Notice2025-05814

Notice of Intended Repatriation: Middleton Place Foundation, Charleston, SC

Primary source

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Published
April 4, 2025

Issuing agencies

Interior DepartmentNational Park Service

Abstract

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Middleton Place Foundation 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 90 Issue 64 (Friday, April 4, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 64 (Friday, April 4, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 14861]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05814]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039844; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: Middleton Place Foundation, 
Charleston, SC

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 Middleton Place Foundation 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 May 5, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Jeff Neale, Middleton Place Foundation, 4300 Ashley River 
Road, Charleston, SC 29414, telephone (843) 266-7491, email 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#640e0a0105080124090d00000801100b0a14080507014a0b1603"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bed4d0dbdfd2dbfed3d7dadad2dbcad1d0ced2dfdddb90d1ccd9">[email&#160;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 
Middleton Place Foundation, 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 505 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. 
The 505 unassociated funerary objects are ceramic beads. These beads 
were discovered in a cardboard box in a storage locker at Middleton 
Place, located in Dorchester County, SC. Written on a piece of paper 
accompanying the beads was the following: ``437 White Beads/68 Blue and 
Black/and assorted broken beads. Found in Indian Burial Rounds (sic) at 
Middleton Place.'' There is no accession or catalog number; no date of 
discovery; and no exact location where they were found. To the best of 
our knowledge, these objects have not been treated with any hazardous 
substance.

Determinations

    The Middleton Place Foundation has determined that:
    <bullet> The 505 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 Catawba Indian Nation.

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 May 5, 2025. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Middleton Place Foundation 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 Middleton Place 
Foundation 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: March 26, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-05814 Filed 4-3-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on April 4, 2025.

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