Notice2025-23006
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Primary source
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Published
December 17, 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) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony 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 240 (Wednesday, December 17, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 240 (Wednesday, December 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 58588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23006]
[[Page 58588]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6661; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041398; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: 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) intends to repatriate certain
cultural items that meet the definition of sacred objects and objects
of cultural patrimony 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 January 16, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items 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#f49e849d979f91869d9a93b4929587da9c958682958690da919081"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="543e243d373f31263d3a33143235277a3c3526223526307a313021">[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 summary or
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
A total of 30 cultural items has been requested for repatriation.
The four sacred objects collected from an unknown location in the
United States are described as follows:
The one sacred object is one lot of pouches collected by Mrs. S.T.
Satterthwaite and donated to the PMAE in 1939.
The two sacred objects are one lot of a pipe bag and one lot of a
tobacco bag collected by William Radcliff Morris that were previously
owned by Chief Washakie and Mrs. William R. Morris, and donated by
William H. Claflin, Jr.
The one sacred object is one lot of a medicine necklace collected
by William Wildschut and donated by William H. Claflin, Jr.
The 26 objects of cultural patrimony are described as follows:
The two objects of cultural patrimony collected from an unknown
location in North America are one lot of a parfleche case collected by
Mrs. E.T. Horitz and received by the PMAE as part of an exchange with
the Smithsonian Institution in 1903 and one lot of moccasins collected
by Ernest T. Jackson and donated by Ernest T. Jackson and Patrick T.
Jackson to the PMAE in 1940.
The 13 objects of cultural patrimony collected from an unknown
location in the United States and donated to the PMAE by William H.
Claflin, Jr. are one lot of a painted skin robe collected by Donald C.
Scott by purchase in 1913 and donated in 1947; one lot of a shirt
collected by Jacob Paxson Temple; one lot of a doll, one lot of a
quirt, one lot of a tomahawk, one lot of eagle feather headdresses, one
lot of a coup stick, one lot of a double dance staff collected by
William Radcliff Morris; one lot of a bone needle, one lot of a quirt,
one lot of an awl, one lot of bags, and one lot of a knife and sheath
collected by William Wildschut.
The four objects of cultural patrimony collected from an unknown
location in Nevada are one lot of a woman's belt, one lot of leggings,
one lot of moccasins, and one lot of quill leg ornaments collected by
Grace Nicholson and Mrs. L. Cushman and donated by Lewis Hobart Farlow
in 1904.
The one object of cultural patrimony from Utah is one lot of a
necklace collected by Dr. Theodore Jewett Eastman and donated by Mrs.
Henry H. Richardson in 1938.
The four objects of cultural patrimony from Wyoming are one lot of
a war bonnet, one lot of a feather bustle, one lot of moccasins, and
one lot of a man's roach headpiece collected and donated by Henry Seton
in 1950.
The two objects of cultural patrimony from Fremont County, Wyoming
are one lot of a wooden saddle and one lot of a large drum collected
and donated by Henry Seton in 1958.
Determinations
The PMAE has determined that:
<bullet> The four sacred objects described in this notice are
specific ceremonial objects needed by a traditional Native American
religious leader for present-day adherents to practice traditional
Native American religion, according to the Native American traditional
knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization.
<bullet> The 26 objects of cultural patrimony described in this
notice have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance
central to the Native American group, including any constituent sub-
group (such as a band, clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other
subdivision), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of
an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
<bullet> There is a connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River
Reservation, Wyoming.
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 January 16, 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
cultural items 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 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: November 21, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23006 Filed 12-16-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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