Notice2026-07957
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Yale Peabody Museum, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Primary source
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Published
April 23, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Yale Peabody Museum, Yale University, intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 78 (Thursday, April 23, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 78 (Thursday, April 23, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21835-21836]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07957]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N7107; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042667; 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, Yale University,
intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition
of unassociated funerary 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 May 26, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Professor Erika Edwards, Interim
Director, Yale Peabody Museum, P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 06520-
8118, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#503522393b317e353427312234231029313c357e353425"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2643544f4d470843425147544255665f474a4308434253">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the
[[Page 21836]]
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 eight cultural items have been requested for
repatriation.
A total of one unassociated funerary object is one lot of
commingled items that are quartz and soapstone fragments, unmodified
faunal remains, and a clay pipe stem. The cultural items were removed
from the Tubbs Site in Niantic, Connecticut, during a Yale University
archaeological field school at an adjacent site in 1946, with the
permission of landowner Chapin Hubbell. Yale faculty and curators
donated the collection to the Peabody Museum on March 24, 1946.
A total of four unassociated funerary objects are one lot of
ceramic vessel fragments, one lot of clay pipe fragments, one lot of
stone items, and one lot of faunal remains that were removed from the
Tubbs Site between 1932 and 1934 by Edward H. Rogers. Rogers donated
the items to the Peabody Museum on December 1, 1960.
A total of three unassociated funerary objects are one lot of
ceramic vessel fragments, one lot of clay pipe fragments, and one lot
of commingled and assorted items were also removed by Rogers from the
Tubbs Site. Rogers removed the collections between 1932 and 1935 and
donated the items to the Peabody Museum on January 15, 1970.
Determinations
The Yale Peabody Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The eight 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 Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe
and the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut.
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 May 26, 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: April 17, 2026,
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-07957 Filed 4-22-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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