Notice2025-23345
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, AL
Primary source
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Published
December 19, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Alabama Department of Archives and History 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 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 59557]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23345]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6772; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041539; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Alabama Department of Archives
and History, Montgomery, AL
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 Alabama Department of Archives and
History 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 John Robert Elmore, III, Alabama
Department of Archives and History, 624 Washington Avenue, Montgomery,
AL 36104, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#16787771666477387772777e567764757e7f60736538777a7774777b7738717960"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5a343b3d2a283b743b3e3b321a3b283932332c3f29743b363b383b373b743d352c">[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
Alabama Department of Archives and History, 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 number of 14 cultural items have been requested for
repatriation. The 14 unassociated funerary objects are 13 brass buttons
and one brass bracelet. The objects were removed from Neshoba County,
Mississippi, and then donated to the Alabama Department of Archives and
History in 1909. Consultation determined that culturally affiliated
Indian tribes include Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and The
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The Alabama Department of Archives and
History has no information about the unassociated funerary objects
being treated with pesticides, preservatives, or other substances that
represent a potential hazard to the objects or to persons handling the
objects.
Determinations
The Alabama Department of Archives and History has determined that:
<bullet> The 14 unassociated funerary objects described in this
notice are 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 reasonable connection between the cultural
items described in this notice and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw
Indians and The Choctaw Nation of 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 Alabama Department of Archives and
History 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 Alabama
Department of Archives and History 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 4, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23345 Filed 12-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 19, 2025.
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