Notice2025-23164
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Yale Peabody Museum, Yale University, New Haven, CT
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 Yale Peabody Museum intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of sacred objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes 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]
[Page 59190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23164]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6721; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041462; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Yale Peabody Museum, Yale
University, New Haven, CT
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 Yale Peabody Museum intends to
repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of sacred
objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes 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 Erika Edwards, Yale Peabody Museum,
P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 06520-8118, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bfdacdd6d4de91dadbc8decddbccffc6ded3da91dadbca"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a2c7d0cbc9c38cc7c6d5c3d0c6d1e2dbc3cec78cc7c6d7">[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
Yale Peabody 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 five cultural items have been requested for
repatriation.
One lot of sacred objects are bone (fauna) implements. In 1869,
Reverend Edward Osborne (E.O.) Dunning removed collections from the
farm of Adam Brakebill, adjacent to Brakebill Mound (40Kn55) in Knox
County, Tennessee, near the junction of the French Broad and Holston
Rivers. The collection was purchased and received by the Yale Peabody
Museum in early 1870.
One lot of sacred objects are modified stone items. In early 1870,
Dunning removed the objects from Island Bottom, a shoal on the Holston
River, near McBee Mound (40Je10) and in Jefferson County, Tennessee.
The collection was purchased and received by the Yale Peabody Museum in
April 1870.
Two sacred objects are one lot of modified stone items removed from
Vance's Island, and one stone bird effigy pipe removed from Howell
Farm. Dunning described these locales as falling within three miles of
Strawberry Plains, in Knox County, Tennessee. The collection was
purchased and received by the Yale Peabody Museum in April 1870.
One sacred object is a ceramic vase. Dunning removed the vase from
an unknown location within Cocke County, Tennessee and included it with
the collections removed from Lick Creek Mound (40Gn2). The item was
purchased and received by the Yale Peabody Museum in March 1872.
Determinations
The Yale Peabody Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The five 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> There is a connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.
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 Yale Peabody 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 Yale Peabody Museum is responsible for
sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes 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 25, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23164 Filed 12-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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