Notice2025-11923
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA
Primary source
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Published
June 27, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) 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 122 (Friday, June 27, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 122 (Friday, June 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 27670]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11923]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040444; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Pennsylvania Museum
of Archaeology and Anthropology, 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 University of Pennsylvania Museum of
Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) 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 July 28, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
in this notice to Dr. Christopher Woods, Williams Director, University
of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South
Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6324, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#690d001b0c0a1d061b29190c0707041c1a0c1c0447061b0e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a5c1ccd7c0c6d1cad7e5d5c0cbcbc8d0d6c0d0c88bcad7c2">[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
Penn Museum, 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 eight individuals have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. The eight
individuals were removed from a Historic cemetery at Point Barrow,
Alaska, by Edward Avery McIlhenny as part of a Penn Museum Expedition
between 1897 and 1898.
Six of the eight individuals were shipped to Mr. McIlhenny's home
in Louisiana before being transferred to the Academy of Natural
Sciences in Philadelphia in 1899. That same year, the remains were
transferred to the Penn Museum and accessioned into the Penn Museum
collection (PM# 42834-42839).
Two of the eight individuals were shipped to the University of
Pennsylvania Department of Paleontology, to be temporarily housed by
freight from Seattle before being transferred and accessioned into the
collections of the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology,
Philadelphia. In 1987, the Wistar Institute gifted the two ancestral
human remains to the Penn Museum (PM# 87-30-129, 87-30-143).
The eight individuals range in age from adolescence to adulthood
and are represented by cranial and postcranial bone elements. Both
males and females are represented, with one sex being ambiguous. No
known individuals were identified. There is no known presence of any
potentially hazardous substances.
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 Penn Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of eight individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains described
in this notice and the Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional
Government.
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, 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 July 28, 2025. If competing requests
for repatriation are received, the Penn Museum 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 Penn Museum 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: June 17, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-11923 Filed 6-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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