Notice2025-11938
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 associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 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]
[Pages 27674-27675]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11938]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040442; 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 associated funerary objects and has determined
that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and
associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after July 28, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects 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#9afef3e8fff9eef5e8daeafff4f4f7efe9ffeff7b4f5e8fd"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="63070a110600170c112313060d0d0e161006160e4d0c1104">[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 nine individuals have been
identified. All the individuals are adults. Of the nine individuals,
seven are identified as female, and two as male. No known individuals
have been identified. The 37 associated funerary objects consist of a
needle case, harpoon heads and shafts, ceramic sherds, beads, ulu and
knife blades, an ice pick, tray fragments, a handle, scraper, bowls, an
arrowhead, arrow shaft fragments, tubes, a fire drill, and a polar bear
fur wrapping. The materials the items are made of include ivory, wood,
baleen, slate, ceramic, and animal bone.
[[Page 27675]]
The human remains and associated funerary objects were excavated
from Nunavak, near north Nunavak Lagoon (Nunavak Bay) between June 4
and August 29, 1929, by Alfred Henry Hopson, a longtime resident of
Barrow, as part of a Penn Museum Expedition. They were accessioned in
the same year (PM Accession 29-80). The collection dates to the Birnirk
Period (ca. 650-1300 CE).
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 reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains and associated
funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The Penn Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of nine individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 37 objects described in this notice are reasonably
believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual
human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite
or ceremony.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Native
Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects 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 and associated funerary objects
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 and
associated funerary objects 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. 2025-11938 Filed 6-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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