Notice2025-11944
Notice of Inventory Completion: The Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, and the 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 Wistar Institute, through its agent 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]
[Pages 27663-27664]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11944]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040445; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: The Wistar Institute,
Philadelphia, PA, and the 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 Wistar Institute, through its agent 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#8eeae7fcebedfae1fccefeebe0e0e3fbfdebfbe3a0e1fce9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cfaba6bdaaacbba0bd8fbfaaa1a1a2babcaabaa2e1a0bda8">[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
Wistar Institute through its agent, the Penn Museum, and additional
information on
[[Page 27664]]
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 34 individuals have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. Sometime
between 1897 and 1898, the human remains of 34 individuals were
collected from a historic cemetery at Point Barrow, Alaska by Edward
Avery McIlhenny, who was in Barrow at this time assembling
archaeological and ethnographical collections on behalf of the Penn
Museum and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. In 1898,
McIlhenny shipped his collection, including the human remains, by
freight from Seattle to the University of Pennsylvania, Department of
Archaeology and Paleontology. The human remains were immediately
transferred to the Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology by an
agreement between both institutions and were accessioned into the
Wistar Institute's collections in 1899. In 1956, 33 of the 34 ancestral
human remains were transferred to the Penn Museum on long-term loan.
One of the 34 individuals was transferred to Thomas N. Haviland of
the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, likely
before 1956. By 1970, the human remains were transferred to Temple
University by Haviland's estate. The remains were returned to the
Wistar Institute in 2012 and subsequently loaned to the Penn Museum
that same year.
The 34 human remains, mainly represented by crania and mandibles,
range in age from adolescence to later adulthood. Both males and
females are represented, with some sexes being indeterminate or
ambiguous. There is one named individual who was identified as
Nonoycha, the head man or ``Qmilik,'' meaning chief. 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 officials of the Wistar Institute, through its agent the Penn
Museum, has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 34 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 Wistar Institute, through its agent,
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 Wistar
Institute, through its agent, 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. 2025-11944 Filed 6-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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