Notice2025-20116
Notice of Intended Repatriation: North Carolina Office of State Archaeology, Raleigh, NC
Primary source
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Published
November 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology 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 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51785-51786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20116]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6596; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041309; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: North Carolina Office of State
Archaeology, Raleigh, NC
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 North Carolina Office of State
Archaeology 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 December 18, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Emily McDowell, North Carolina Office
of State Archaeology, 215 West Lane Street, Raleigh, NC 27616, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#42272f2b2e3b6c2f21262d35272e2e02262c21306c2c216c252d34"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6f0a0206031641020c0b00180a03032f0b010c1d41010c41080019">[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
North Carolina Office of State Archaeology, 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 88,088 cultural items have been requested for
repatriation. The 88,088 unassociated funerary objects are one
necklace, one batch of hemp fiber, and 88,086 beads. In 1992, artifacts
from Fort Neoheroka were donated to the North Carolina Office of State
Archaeology Research Center by the property owner. Fort Neoheroka,
located in Greene County, North Carolina, is historically documented as
the site of the final major battle of the Tuscarora War in 1713. The
Tuscarora are historically and geographically documented as residing in
the interior coastal plain region of North Carolina. According to
Tuscarora traditional knowledge, the beads, known as Wampum, were
intentionally placed with ancestors at the time of their death
[[Page 51786]]
and are the cultural property of the Tuscarora Nation, rather than any
one individual.
Determinations
The North Carolina Office of State Archaeology has determined that:
<bullet> The 88,088 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 connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Tuscarora 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 December 18, 2025. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the North Carolina Office of State
Archaeology 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 North
Carolina Office of State Archaeology 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: September 30, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-20116 Filed 11-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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