Notice of Intended Repatriation: Yager Museum of Art & Culture, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY

Issuing agencies

Abstract

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Yager Museum of Art & Culture, Hartwick College (Yager Museum) 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 91 Issue 162 (Monday, August 24, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 162 (Monday, August 24, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54761-54762]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-17176]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N7419; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0043525; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: Yager Museum of Art & Culture, 
Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY

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 Yager Museum of Art & Culture, Hartwick 
College (Yager Museum) 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 September 23, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the 
cultural items in this notice to Dr. Quentin Lewis, Yager Museum of Art 
& Culture, Hartwick College, 1 Hartwick Drive, Oneonta, NY 13820, email 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#aac6cfddc3d9dbeac2cbd8deddc3c9c184cfcedf"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="adc1c8dac4dedcedc5ccdfd9dac4cec683c8c9d8">[email&#160;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 
Yager 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 31 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. 
The 31 unassociated funerary objects consist of two groups of objects, 
a group of 15 objects and a group of 16 objects.
    The group of 15 unassociated funerary objects includes one pipe 
bowl, one celt, one pipe, three projectile points, seven potsherds, one 
netsinker, and one ceramic vessel. These objects were disinterred from 
a known burial site in Delaware County, NY by George Swarthout, Aleck 
Proskin and others between 1894 and 1906 and acquired by Willard Yager 
sometime prior to his death in 1929. The group of 16 unassociated 
funerary objects includes four gorgets, five pendants, two pipes, one 
statue, one ceramic vessel, one potsherd, one bannerstone, and one 
knife. Except for one of the gorgets, which was collected by Clifford 
Anderson sometime prior to 1984 in Delaware County, and NY, all of 
these objects were collected by Willard Yager from various sources 
prior to 1929, and were documented as coming from Delaware County, NY, 
Susquehanna County, PA, Luzerne County, PA, and Bradford Counnty, PA.

[[Page 54762]]

Determinations

    The Yager Museum has determined that:
    <bullet> The 31 unassociated funerary objects described in this 
notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with 
or near human remains, or 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 Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of 
Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin.

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 September 23, 2026. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Yager 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 Yager Museum 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: August 17, 2026.
Mariah Soriano,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-17176 Filed 8-21-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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