Notice2026-07958
Notice of Inventory Completion: 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 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 91 Issue 78 (Thursday, April 23, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 78 (Thursday, April 23, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21836-21837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07958]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N7108; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042668; 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 May 26, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects 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#c1a4b3a8aaa0efa4a5b6a0b3a5b281b8a0ada4efa4a5b4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="91f4e3f8faf0bff4f5e6f0e3f5e2d1e8f0fdf4bff4f5e4">[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. No associated funerary objects are present. The collection
was donated to the Yale Peabody Museum on February 9, 1899, by Gertrude
McCurdy Lord Griffin on behalf of her husband, Dr. Edward Dorr Griffin.
Peabody Museum records indicate that Dr. Griffin collected the remains;
however, an exact provenience beyond Old Lyme, Connecticut, where the
Griffins resided, was not recorded.
Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have been
identified. The four associated funerary objects are one quartz
projectile fragment, one lot of faunal remains, one bird bone whistle,
and one polished stone ax. The collection was excavated from the Old
Lyme Site, an extensive shell heap, in Old Lyme, Connecticut, by George
A. Jackson, representing the Yale University Department of Anthropology
and Yale Peabody Museum summer archaeology field expedition of 1939.
The collection was received at the Peabody Museum on July 1, 1939.
Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have been
identified. The 11 associated funerary objects are five quartz
projectile points, one lot of quartz projectile rejects, one projectile
fragment, one bone (faunal) projectile point, two antler tines, and one
ceramic pottery fragment. The collection was excavated from the Old
Lyme Site during a second field season in 1940, by Alexis A. Praus, and
additional students from the Yale University Department of
[[Page 21837]]
Anthropology and Yale Peabody Museum. The collection was received at
the Peabody Museum on September 20, 1941.
Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been
identified. The five associated funerary objects are one lot of incised
ceramic pottery fragments, one lot of quartz chips, one lot of
charcoal, one lot of food (faunal) refuse, and one lot of comingled and
assorted pottery, stone chips, charcoal, and bone (faunal) fragments.
Collections removed from the Clark Site, private farmland in Niantic,
Connecticut, situated off Smith's Cove and the Niantic River, were
excavated in 1946 by Byron Clark, landowner, and Chapin Hubbell, a
member of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut. Excavations were
also supported by the Yale University Department of Anthropology and
Yale Peabody Museum. The collection removed from the Clark Site in
1946, was received at the Peabody Museum on March 24, 1946.
Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been
identified. The three associated funerary objects are two ceramic
pottery fragments and one lot of ceramic pottery fragments. A
subsequent field season at the Clark Site in 1947 was supported by the
Yale University Department of Anthropology, Yale Peabody Museum, and
Archaeological Society of Connecticut. The collection was donated to
the Peabody Museum on March 15, 1947.
Human remains representing, at least, five individuals have been
identified. The one associated funerary object is a quartz pecking
stone. Beginning in 1907, the collection was removed from the South
Woodstock Site, South Woodstock, Connecticut, over several decades by
landowner, Arthur Basto. In cooperation with Basto, between August and
September 1940, the Yale University Department of Anthropology and Yale
Peabody Museum field school also removed collections from the South
Woodstock Site. The field school collections were donated to the
Peabody Museum on September 20, 1940, while Basto donated his
collections on April 26, 1947.
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 16 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 24 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
Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe and the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of
Connecticut.
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 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 human remains and
associated funerary objects 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 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: April 17, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-07958 Filed 4-22-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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