Notice2025-23163
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Concord Museum, Concord, MA
Primary source
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Published
December 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Concord Antiquarian Society, doing business as Concord Museum, 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 241 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 241 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59171-59172]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23163]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6717; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041459; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Concord Museum, Concord, 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 Concord Antiquarian Society, doing
business as Concord Museum, 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 January 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Jessica Desany, Concord Museum, 53
Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA 01742, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#365c52534557584f76555958555944525b434553435b18594451"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e58f818096848b9ca5868a8b868a9781889096809088cb8a9782">[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
Concord Museum, 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 13 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The 13 unassociated funerary objects are stone bifaces, a polished
stone, and a box of red ochre. These 13 items were taken from the
following locations in Maine by Benjamin Lincoln Smith (b.1900,
d.1981), an amateur archaeologist, in the mid-19th century: the
Hartford Barn site, Orland, Hancock County; Indian Island Cemetery, Old
Town, Penobscot County; and in or around the Katahdin Iron Works,
Piscataquis County. The Concord Museum records indicate no known
hazardous substances.
Determinations
The Concord Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The 13 unassociated funerary objects described in this
notice are
[[Page 59172]]
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 Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians; Mi'kmaq Nation
(previously listed as Aroostook Band of Micmacs); Passamaquoddy Tribe;
Penobscot 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 January 20, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the Concord Museum 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 Concord Museum 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: December 1, 2025
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23163 Filed 12-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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