Notice2026-08763
Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
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Published
May 5, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) has completed an inventory of associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24284-24286]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08763]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N7117; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042686; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
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 Peabody Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) has completed an inventory of
associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural
affiliation between the associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes
or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the associated funerary objects in this notice
may occur on or after June 4, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the associated
funerary objects in this notice to Jane Pickering, Peabody Museum of
Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02138, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fc968c959f97998e95929bbc9a9d8fd2949d8e8a9d8e98d2999889"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7e140e171d151b0c1710193e181f0d50161f0c081f0c1a501b1a0b">[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
PMAE, and additional information on the determinations in this notice,
including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara
County, CA. The one lot of associated funerary objects is one lot of
unworked faunal remains. These associated funerary objects were removed
from Santa Cruz Island by an unknown collector at an unknown date and
donated to the PMAE by a Mrs. Thomas B. Bishop in approximately 1907.
The human remains associated with these associated funerary objects
were listed in a Notice of Inventory Completion published in the
Federal Register on October 4, 2001 (66 FR 50675-50676).
[[Page 24285]]
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara
County, CA. The one lot of associated funerary objects is one lot of
basket fragments, brushes, ceramic sherds, cordage, glass beads, a
miniature wooden canoe, organic material, stone items, stone mortars
and pestles, textiles, worked and unworked faunal remains, worked and
unworked shell, and worked iron. Between 1876 and 1933, the PMAE
acquired the items through multiple accessions from private collectors,
exchanges, and archaeological expeditions, including from Paul
Schumacher via a joint Smithsonian Institution and PMAE expedition
(collected in 1875, acquired in 1876 and 1877); Paul Schumacher via Dr.
George J. Engelmann (collected at an unknown date, acquired in 1896);
Stephen Bowers and Paul Schumacher via an exchange between the American
Antiquarian Society and PMAE (possibly collected in 1875, acquired in
1910); and J. H. Goodale via A. Lawrence Lowell (collected at an
unknown date prior to 1867, acquired in 1933).
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from Santa Rosa Island, Santa Barbara
County, CA. The one lot of funerary objects is one lot of cordage,
glass beads, stone beads, quartz, red paint, stone items, stone mortars
and pestles, worked and unworked shell, and worked faunal remains.
These associated funerary objects were acquired through multiple
accessions from private collectors, exchanges, and archaeological
expeditions, including from Stephen Bowers via a joint Smithsonian
Institution and PMAE expedition (possibly collected in 1875, acquired
in 1877); Frederick H. Rindge at an unknown date and donated by Rindge
to the PMAE in 1894; an unknown collector, possibly Frederick Rindge,
and Dr. F.M. Palmer via Frederick Rindge (collected at an unknown date,
acquired in 1894); an unknown collector via George W. Hammond
(collected at an unknown date, acquired in 1897); an unknown collector
via an exchange between the University of California, Department of
Anthropology and PMAE (collected at an unknown date, acquired in 1908);
Stephen Bowers via an exchange between the American Antiquarian Society
and PMAE (possibly collected in 1875, acquired in 1910); J. H. Goodale
via A. Lawrence Lowell (collected at an unknown date prior to 1867,
acquired in 1933); and Lewis H. Farlow (acquired 1906, collected by
Grace A. Nicholson at an unknown date).
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified as being removed from either Santa Cruz
Island or Santa Rosa Island, Santa Barbara County, CA. The one lot of
associated funerary objects is one lot of stone items. The items were
collected by Frederick H. Rindge at an unknown date and donated by
Rindge to the PMAE in
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from San Miguel Island, Santa Barbara
County, CA. The one lot of funerary objects is one lot of worked shell
items. The items were collected by Horatio Nelson Rust at an unknown
date and donated by Rust to the PMAE in 1905.
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from San Miguel Island, Santa Barbara
County, CA. The one lot of funerary objects is one lot of ceramic
sherds, copper fragments, copper cups, glass beads, stone beads, metal
items, brass bell clappers, buttons, organic material, stone items,
stone pestles, stone pipe fragments, unworked shell, worked asphaltum,
worked faunal remains, and worked shell. The items were removed by
multiple collectors and sent to the PMAE through multiple exchanges,
archaeological expeditions, and donations, including from Stephen
Bowers, Paul Schumacher, and William H. Dall via a joint Smithsonian
Institution and PMAE expedition (collected in 1875, acquired in 1876);
an unknown collector via Dr. George J. Engelmann (collected at an
unknown date, acquired in 1896); and Stephen Bowers via an exchange
between the American Antiquarian Society and PMAE (possibly collected
in 1875, acquired in 1910).
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified as likely from the Northern Channel
Islands, Santa Barbara County, CA (locations also identified in museum
documentation as ``Southern California,'' ``Channel Island,'' and
``Santa Barbara,'' though consultation has determined the removal
location is most likely the Northern Channel Islands, which collectors
originally referred to as the ``Santa Barbara Islands''). The one lot
of funerary objects is one lot of asphaltum fragments, glass beads,
perforated stones, quartz pendants, stone beads, stone dishes and
vessels, stone fragments, stone items, stone mortars, stone pendants,
stone pestles, stone pipes, stone tools and projectile points, worked
faunal remains, worked shell items, and ceramic or clay fragments. The
items were removed by multiple collectors and sent to the PMAE through
multiple exchanges, archaeological expeditions, and donations,
including from Paul Schumacher and Stephen Bowers via a joint
Smithsonian Institution and PMAE expedition (collected in 1875,
acquired in 1876); Paul Schumacher and an unknown collector via Dr.
George J. Engelmann (collected at an unknown date, acquired in 1896);
an unknown collector, possibly Frederick H. Rindge, and Dr. F. M.
Palmer via Frederick H. Rindge (collected at an unknown date, acquired
in 1894); and Stephen Bowers via Dr. H. C. Yarrow (collected at an
unknown date, acquired in 1876).
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from Castaic Cave, Los Angeles County, CA.
The one lot of funerary objects is one lot of baskets and basket
fragments, bull roarers, clubs, feather headdresses and headbands,
organic material, quartz, stone implements, worked and unworked faunal
remains, wooden tools, and worked shell. The associated funerary
objects were collected in an 1885 PMAE expedition led by Stephen Bowers
and received by the museum in 1886. Some of the associated funerary
objects are known to have been treated with potentially hazardous
substances.
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from Dos Pueblos, Santa Barbara County, CA.
The one lot of funerary objects is one lot of shell fragments, stone
bowls, stone items, stone mortars, stone pestles, stone vessels, and
worked shell. These items were removed by multiple collectors and sent
to the PMAE through multiple exchanges and archaeological expeditions,
including from Paul Schumacher and Lieut. George M. Wheeler via a joint
Smithsonian Institution and PMAE expedition (collected in 1875,
acquired in 1876 and 1877) and from Paul Schumacher via an exchange
between the American Antiquarian Society and PMAE (collected at an
unknown date, acquired in 1910).
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from Os-bi, Santa Barbara County, CA. The
one lot of funerary objects is one lot of worked shell and worked
faunal remains. These associated funerary objects were removed during a
joint Smithsonian Institution and PMAE expedition led by Paul
Schumacher in 1875 and sent to the PMAE in 1877.
[[Page 24286]]
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from La Patera, Santa Barbara County, CA.
The one lot of funerary objects is one lot of stone mortars. These
associated funerary objects were removed by Lieutenant George M.
Wheeler in 1875 during a joint expedition of the Smithsonian
Institution and the PMAE and sent to the PMAE in 1877.
Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been described as from Santa Ynez Valley or Northern
Channel Islands, (misidentified as ``Santa Inez Island'' by the
collector), Santa Barbara County, CA. The one lot of funerary objects
is one lot of stone items, a stone mortar, stone pestles, a stone
vessel, worked faunal remains and worked shell. These items were
removed by multiple collectors and sent to the PMAE through multiple
private collectors and archaeological expeditions, including from
Stephen Bowers via a joint Smithsonian Institution and PMAE expedition
(possibly collected in 1875, acquired in 1877) and an unknown collector
via Dr. George J. Engelmann (collected at an unknown date, acquired in
1896).
Based on available information, one lot of associated funerary
objects has been identified from unknown locations within Santa Barbara
County, CA. The one lot of funerary objects is one lot of metal
fragments, stone bowls, stone comals, stone items, stone pestles, stone
vessels, a wood tool, and worked shell. The items were removed by Paul
Schumacher, Stephen Bowers, and Lieut. George M. Wheeler in 1875 during
a joint Smithsonian Institution and PMAE expedition (acquired in 1877)
and by Paul Schumacher and Stephen Bowers at unknown dates (acquired by
the PMAE in 1910 via an exchange with the American Antiquarian
Society). The acquisition history of these items and relationship to
excavations by Schumacher, Bowers, and Wheeler, which were known to
target burials, supports their identification as associated funerary
objects despite the unspecified locations within Santa Barbara County.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the information
available about the associated funerary objects described in this
notice.
Determinations
The PMAE has determined that:
<bullet> The 13 lots of 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 associated funerary
objects described in this notice and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash
Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the 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 or Native Hawaiian
organizations 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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization.
Repatriation of the associated funerary objects in this notice to a
requestor may occur on or after June 4, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the PMAE must determine the most appropriate
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the
associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not
competing requests. The PMAE is responsible for sending a copy of this
notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations
identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: April 27, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-08763 Filed 5-4-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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