Notice2025-07419
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta, GA
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
April 30, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Fernbank Museum of Natural History 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 82 (Wednesday, April 30, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 82 (Wednesday, April 30, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17967-17968]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07419]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040018; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Fernbank Museum of Natural
History, Atlanta, GA
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 Fernbank Museum of Natural History
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 30, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Wil Grewe-Mullins, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, 767
Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30307, telephone (404) 929-6312, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4e39272260293c2b392b63233b222227203d0e282b3c202c2f2025233b3d2b3b2360213c29"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6c1b0500420b1e091b09410119000005021f2c0a091e020e0d020701191f09190142031e0b">[email protected]</span></a>.
[[Page 17968]]
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
Fernbank Museum of Natural History, 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 68,682 cultural items have been requested for
repatriation. The 68,682 unassociated funerary objects are ceramic
disks and figures; ceramic pipe fragments; ceramic sherds; copper
sheets; decorative glass items; glass beads; groundstone tools; gun
flints; jet beads; lithic tools and debitage; metal beads; metal shot;
metal nails and spikes; metal crosses and religious items; modified and
unmodified faunal remains; molten and fragmented glass; shell beads;
soil samples; stone beads; textile fragments; unmodified marine shell;
unmodified rocks and minerals; whole and partial ceramic vessels; and a
wooden cross fragment. The objects were recovered from the Mission
Santa Catalina de Guale (9Li274) cemetery on St. Catherines Island,
Liberty County, Georgia. Human remains representing 431 individuals
were removed from the cemetery site during archaeological excavations
conducted by the American Museum of Natural History (1982-1986) under
direction of Dr. David Hurst Thomas and Dr. Clark S. Larsen. After
periods of analysis, the remains were reburied at the cemetery site. In
May 1984, three coffins were reburied in conjunction with a ceremony
led by Bishop Raymond Lessard to reconsecrate the Catholic church site.
All other remains were reburied in 2000 in a ceremony presided over by
an ordained Presbyterian minister. The objects recovered from the
cemetery excavations are considered unassociated funerary objects. They
were stored for intervals at the American Museum of Natural History and
on St. Catherines Island for analysis before they were transferred to
Fernbank Museum of Natural History by the St. Catherines Island and
Edward John Noble Foundations between 2004 and 2010. Based on the
information available and the results of consultation, cultural
affiliation is reasonably identified by historical information and the
geographical location or acquisition history of the human remains and
unassociated funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The Fernbank Museum of Natural History has determined that:
<bullet> The 68,682 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 Seminole Tribe of Florida and
The Muscogee (Creek) 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 30, 2025. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the Fernbank Museum of Natural History 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 Fernbank Museum of
Natural History 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: April 15, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-07419 Filed 4-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 30, 2025.
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