Notice2025-23165
Notice of Inventory Completion: 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 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 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 59189-59190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23165]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6722; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041463; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: 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 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 in this
notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after January 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects 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#fd988f94969cd398998a9c8f998ebd849c9198d3989988"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b3d6c1dad8d29dd6d7c4d2c1d7c0f3cad2dfd69dd6d7c6">[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
its inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, five individuals have been
identified. The six associated funerary objects are one lot of fauna,
one lot of modified stone, one lot of unmodified stone, one of
ceramics, one lot of modified shell, and one of wood. In 1869, Reverend
Edward Osborne (E.O.) Dunning removed collections from 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.
Human remains representing, at least, 22 individuals have been
identified. The six associated funerary objects are one lot of fauna,
one lot of modified stone, one lot of unmodified stone, one lot of
ceramics, one of modified shell, one lot of modified shell and bone
(fauna). In early 1870, Dunning removed collections from McBee Mound
(40Je10) and its immediate vicinity in Jefferson County, Tennessee. The
collection was purchased and received by the Yale Peabody Museum in
April 1870.
Human remains representing, at least, 13 individuals have been
identified. The five associated funerary objects are one lot of fauna,
one lot of modified stone, one lot of ceramics, one of modified shell,
one of unmodified shell. Dunning removed collections from Lick Creek
Mound (40Gn2) in Greene County, Tennessee, circa 1871-1872. The
collections were purchased and received by the Yale Peabody Museum in
March 1872. Dunning's initial descriptions of Lick Creek Mound,
situated at the confluence of the Nolichucky River and Lick Creek,
incorrectly referred to it as Lisles Mound.
Human remains representing, at least, four individuals have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. Following
Dunning's death in March 1874, a portion of his remaining
archaeological collections, excavated between 1869-1872, were donated
to the Yale Peabody Museum by his wife. At least two individuals were
attributed to an unknown county in Tennessee, and at least two
individuals were attributed to an unknown county in Tennessee or North
Carolina.
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 Yale Peabody Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 44 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 17 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 connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects 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
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 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
described 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 human remains and
associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not
competing requests. The Yale Peabody Museum is responsible for sending
a
[[Page 59190]]
copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in this notice and
any other consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: November 25, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23165 Filed 12-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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