Notice2026-09408
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Yale Peabody Museum, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Primary source
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Published
May 12, 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 Tribe in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 91 (Tuesday, May 12, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 91 (Tuesday, May 12, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25907-25908]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-09408]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N7140; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042756; 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 Tribe in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after June 11, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Professor Erika
[[Page 25908]]
Edwards, Interim Director, Yale Peabody Museum, P.O. Box 208118, New
Haven, CT 06520-8118, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6d081f04060c4308091a0c1f091e2d140c010843080918"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c8adbaa1a3a9e6adacbfa9baacbb88b1a9a4ade6adacbd">[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
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 three unassociated funerary objects are one lot of stone
mortars, one lot of stone pestles, and one lot of stone weights. W.
George Washington Harford removed the items from an unspecified
provenience in the region of Southern California circa 1871 and donated
the material to the Yale Peabody Museum in 1872.
A total of three unassociated funerary objects are one lot of stone
mortars, one lot of stone pestles, and one lot of stone weights. Circa
1864-1872, Benjamin Silliman, Jr., removed the items from an
unspecified provenience in the region of Southern California and
donated the material to the Yale Peabody Museum in 1877.
A total of two unassociated funerary objects are one lot of stone
bowls and one lot of stone mortars and pestles. In 1875, Reverend
Stephen Bowers removed the items from California. While an exact
provenience is unknown, Bowers amassed cultural collections from the
region of Santa Barbara and sold the material to Elias Root Beadle
circa 1876. The items were donated to the Yale Peabody Museum in 1916
by Herbert H. Beadle.
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 connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of
the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.
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 June 11, 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 Tribe 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: May 5, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-09408 Filed 5-11-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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