Notice of Intended Repatriation: Yale Peabody Museum, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Issuing agencies

Abstract

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Yale Peabody 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 in this notice.

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 203 (Thursday, October 22, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 203 (Thursday, October 22, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66731-66732]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-21539]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N7580; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0044031; 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 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.

[[Page 66732]]


DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after November 23, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the 
cultural items in this notice to Professor David Skelly, Director, Yale 
Peabody Museum, P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 06520-8118, email 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#81e5e0f7e8e5aff2eae4ededf8c1f8e0ede4afe4e5f4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5a3e3b2c333e7429313f3636231a233b363f743f3e2f">[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 
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 146 unassociated funerary objects removed from locations 
in New Mexico have been requested for repatriation.
    Of the 146 unassociated funerary objects, a total of one is a lot 
of copper concretions that was removed from an unknown provenience in 
the San Juan Watershed by Theophil Mitchell Prudden, Yale University 
graduate, sometime between 1873 and 1906. The collection was received 
at the Yale Peabody Museum on April 21, 1906.
    Of the 146 unassociated funerary objects, a total of two are 
ceramic items that were removed from Chaco Canyon in 1896 by Theophil 
Mitchell Prudden, Yale University graduate. The items are one jar and 
one lot of bowls. The collection was received at the Yale Peabody 
Museum on April 21, 1906.
    Of the 146 unassociated funerary objects, a total of 71 are ceramic 
items that were removed from the C-F ranch site in the Mangas Valley in 
Grant County in 1938 by John Rodman Paul, professor at the Yale School 
of Medicine. The items are three black-on-white bowls, 61 sherds, 6 
lots of sherds, and one lug handle. An exact location for this 
provenience is not known. The collection was received at the Yale 
Peabody Museum in January 1940.
    Of the 146 unassociated funerary objects, a total of 68 are 
ceramic, stone, and bone items that were removed from the Thompson Ruin 
in the Mangas Valley in Grant County in 1938 by John Rodman Paul, 
professor at the Yale School of Medicine. The ceramic items are one 
Classic Mimbres black-on-white bowl, 48 sherds, 13 lots of sherds, one 
olla fragment, and one lug. The stone items are one stone and one lot 
of stone. The bone items are two faunal bone fragments. An exact 
location for this provenience is not known. The collection was received 
at the Yale Peabody Museum in January 1940.
    Of the 146 unassociated funerary objects, a total of one is a 
Mimbres Classic black-on-white bowl that was removed from an unknown 
provenience in the Southwest and purchased by the Yale Peabody Museum 
from Earl Gilmore; the item was removed by Gilmore's brother. The 
collection was received at the Yale Peabody Museum on June 11, 1974.
    Of the 146 unassociated funerary objects, a total of one is a 
black-on-white bowl that was removed from an unknown provenience in the 
Southwest and donated to the Yale Peabody Museum by Anni Albers. The 
collection was received at the Yale Peabody Museum on December 20, 
1979.
    Of the 146 unassociated funerary objects, a total of one is a game 
ball removed from a Mimbres grave on ranchland in an unknown location 
in New Mexico by an unknown collector and donated to the Yale Peabody 
Museum by Peter David Joralemon. The collection was received at the 
Yale Peabody Museum on December 20, 1984.
    Of the 146 unassociated funerary objects, a total of one is a 
Mimbres black-on-white bowl that was removed from an unknown 
provenience in New Mexico. The bowl was originally part of the 
collection of Peter G. Wray and was donated to the Yale Peabody Museum 
by Peter David Joralemon. The collection was received at the Yale 
Peabody Museum on December 30, 1991.

Determinations

    The Yale Peabody Museum has determined that:
    <bullet> The 146 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 Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, 
New Mexico, & Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico; Pueblo of Acoma, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Santo Domingo 
Pueblo; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico.

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 November 23, 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: October 15, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-21539 Filed 10-21-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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