Notice2025-22918
Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
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Published
December 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) 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 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58275-58276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22918]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6643; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041377; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
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 Peabody Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) 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 January 15, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Jane Pickering,
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 11
Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ae0fae3e9e1eff8e3e4edcaecebf9a4e2ebf8fcebf8eea4efeeff"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6309130a000806110a0d04230502104d0b0211150211074d060716">[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
PMAE, and additional information on the determinations in this notice,
including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Based on the information available, human remains representing, at
least, two individuals have been reasonably identified. The four
associated funerary objects are one lot of ceramic bowls, one lot of
ceramic jars, one lot of ceramic sherds, and one lot of stone and iron
fragments. The human remains and associated funerary objects were
removed from the Las Acequias site in Maricopa County, AZ, by Frank
Hamilton Cushing during the Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological
Expedition in 1887 or 1888. The expedition's benefactor was Mrs. Mary
Hemenway. Excavation of Maricopa County sites began in February 1887
and concluded in June 1888. The Hemenway Expedition collection came
into the possession of the PMAE in May 1894, following the death of
Mrs. Hemenway.
Based on the information available, human remains representing, at
least, five individuals have been reasonably identified. No associated
funerary objects are present. The human remains were removed from the
La Ciudad de los Pueblitos site in Maricopa County, AZ. One individual
was removed from the site during the Hemenway Southwestern
Archaeological Expedition led by Frank Hamilton Cushing in 1887. The
expedition's benefactor was Mrs. Mary Hemenway. Excavation of Maricopa
County sites began in February 1887 and concluded in June 1888. The
Hemenway Expedition collection came into the possession of the PMAE in
May 1894, following the death of Mrs. Hemenway. Four of the individuals
were gifted to PMAE in 1934 by the Gila Pueblo organization. Gila
Pueblo obtained the individuals prior to 1934, most likely through the
excavations of the site by Frank Midvale in the 1920s.
Based on the information available, human remains representing, at
least, one individual have been reasonably identified. The three
associated funerary objects are one lot of ancestral dog remains, one
lot of ceramic bowls, and one lot of ceramic sherds. The human remains
and associated funerary objects were removed from the Los Hornos site
in Maricopa County, AZ.
Based on the information available, human remains representing, at
least, two individuals have been reasonably identified. No associated
funerary objects are present. The human remains were removed from the
Phoenix area of Maricopa County, AZ by an unknown collector at an
unknown date. The Robert S. Peabody Institute donated the two
individuals to the PMAE in 1937.
Based on the information available, four associated funerary
objects have been reasonably identified. The four associated funerary
objects are one lot of ceramic jars, one lot of ceramic sherds, one
stone implement, and one slate tablet fragment. The associated funerary
objects were removed by Frank
[[Page 58276]]
Hamilton Cushing between 1886 and 1889 during the Hemenway Southwestern
Archaeological Expedition from the Pueblo de las Canopas site in
Maricopa County, AZ. The expedition's benefactor was Mrs. Mary
Hemenway. Excavation of Maricopa County sites began in February 1887
and concluded in June 1888. The Hemenway Expedition collection came
into the possession of the PMAE in May 1894, following the death of
Mrs. Hemenway.
Based on the information available, one associated funerary object
has been reasonably identified. The one associated funerary object is
one ceramic jar. The associated funerary object was removed by Frank
Hamilton Cushing between 1886 and 1889 during the Hemenway Southwestern
Archaeological Expedition from the Pueblo del Patricio site in Maricopa
County, AZ. The expedition's benefactor was Mrs. Mary Hemenway.
Excavation of Maricopa County sites began in February 1887 and
concluded in June 1888. The Hemenway Expedition collection came into
the possession of the PMAE in May 1894, following the death of Mrs.
Hemenway.
Based on the information available, one associated funerary object
has been reasonably identified. The one associated funerary object is
one shell. The associated funerary object was removed by Frank Hamilton
Cushing between 1886 and 1889 during the Hemenway Southwestern
Archaeological Expedition from the Los Guanacos site in Maricopa
County, AZ. The expedition's benefactor was Mrs. Mary Hemenway.
Excavation of Maricopa County sites began in February 1887 and
concluded in June 1888. The Hemenway Expedition collection came into
the possession of the PMAE in May 1894, following the death of Mrs.
Hemenway.
Based on the information available, one associated funerary object
has been reasonably identified. The one associated funerary object is
one lot of a partially reconstructed ceramic jar known to have
contained human remains. The associated funerary object was removed by
R. E. L. Robinson in 1892 from an excavation in the center of Phoenix
in Maricopa County, AZ, and was donated to the PMAE by an unknown
person in 1892.
Based on the information available, human remains representing at
least 138 individuals have been reasonably identified. The 16
associated funerary objects are one ceramic abrader, one lot of ceramic
bowls, one lot of ceramic jars, one lot of ceramic pitchers, one lot of
ceramic scoops, one lot of ceramic sherds, one ceramic vessel, one
chalcedony fragment, one lot of charcoal fragments, one hammerstone,
one projectile point, one lot of shell fragments, one smoothing stone,
one spindle whorl, one lot of unworked faunal remains, and one lot of
worked faunal remains. The human remains and associated funerary
objects were removed from the seventeen subsites across the Los Muertos
site in Maricopa County, AZ by Frank Hamilton Cushing during the
Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition between 1886 and 1880.
The expedition's benefactor was Mrs. Mary Hemenway. Excavation of
Maricopa County sites began in February 1887 and concluded in June
1888. The Hemenway Expedition collection came into the possession of
the PMAE in May 1894, following the death of Mrs. Hemenway.
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 and associated funerary objects described in
this notice.
Determinations
The PMAE has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 148 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 30 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 reasonable connection between the human remains
and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Ak-
Chin Indian Community; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona;
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni
Reservation, New Mexico.
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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January 15, 2026.
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the PMAE 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 PMAE 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: November 20, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-22918 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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