Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; Correction, 70982-70983 [E6-20749]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 235 (Thursday, December 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70982-70983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20749]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; 
Correction

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; correction.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003 (5), of the 
intent to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 
that meet the definition of ``unassociated funerary objects'' under 25 
U.S.C. 3001. The cultural items were removed from Bristol and Plymouth 
Counties, MA.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    This notice corrects the number of unassociated funerary objects 
reported in a Notice of Intent to Repatriate published in the Federal 
Register on December 1, 2003, (FR Doc 03-29769, pages 67212-67213). In 
2006, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology identified one 
additional unassociated funerary object from a site in southeastern MA. 
This notice changes the number of unassociated funerary objects from 
three to four and supercedes the previously published Notice of Intent 
to Repatriate.
    A detailed assessment of the cultural items was made by the Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation, on 
behalf of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts, 
Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation (a non-federally recognized Indian 
group), and Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe (a non-federally recognized 
Indian group).
    The four cultural items are two brass tubes, one perforated copper 
point, and one string of shell beads.
    The two brass tubes were collected by J.V.C. Smith in 1831 from 
Fall River, Bristol County, MA, and were donated to the Peabody Museum 
of Archaeology and Ethnology, by F. Kneeland in 1886. Museum 
documentation indicates that the brass tubes were recovered from a 
grave. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is not in 
possession of the human remains from this burial.
    The interment most likely dates to the Historic/Contact period 
(post-A.D. 1500). According to the Peabody Museum Annual Report of 
1887, the human remains from this grave site were wrapped in several 
layers of braided or woven bark-cloth with an outer layer of cedar 
bark. Woven mats and bark were commonly used in Wampanoag burials 
during the Late Woodland period and later (post-A.D. 1000). Sheet brass 
and brass objects were European trade items and therefore indicate a 
postcontact temporal context.
    At an unknown date, a string of shell beads was recovered from a 
grave site in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, MA. The string of shell 
beads was donated to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in 
1899 by H.W. Hatch. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is 
not in possession of the human remains from this burial.
    The interment most likely dates to the Historic/Contact period 
(post-A.D. 1500). According to museum documentation, the shell beads 
were found with ``porcelain beads,'' which are not in the possession of 
the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. True porcelain beads 
do not appear in historic contexts until the 19th century, although 
beads made from money cowry shell (C. moneta) were called 
``porcelain,'' and were imported and traded by Europeans as trade items 
by the 17th century, which would support a postcontact date. Even if 
these beads are of white glass rather than shell, glass beads were 
introduced by Europeans as trade items in the 17th century and would 
also support a postcontact date.
    In 1845, one perforated copper point was collected by Mr. Howard in 
Fairhaven, Bristol County, MA. The same year, Mr. Howard gave the point 
to Mary L. Rotch. Miss. Rotch donated the copper point to the Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in 1913. Museum documentation 
indicates that the copper point was recovered from a grave. The Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is not in possession of the human 
remains from this burial.
    This interment most likely dates to the Historic/Contact period 
(post 500 B.P.). Copper was a European import

[[Page 70983]]

item and its presence supports a Contact period date. This triangular 
point is of the Levanna type, as are most European sheet metal 
projectile points found in southern New England.
    Oral tradition and historical documentation indicate that Fall 
River, Bridgewater, and Fairhaven, MA, are within the aboriginal and 
historic homeland of the Wampanoag Nation. The present-day groups that 
are most closely affiliated with the Wampanoag Nation are the Wampanoag 
Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts, Assonet Band of the 
Wampanoag Nation (a non-federally recognized Indian group), and Mashpee 
Wampanoag Indian Tribe (a non-federally recognized Indian group).
    Officials of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the four cultural 
items described above are reasonably believed to have been placed with 
or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part 
of the death rite or ceremony and are believed, by a preponderance of 
the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a 
Native American individual. Officials of the Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology have also determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that 
can be reasonably traced between the unassociated funerary objects and 
the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts, and that 
there is a cultural relationship between the unassociated funerary 
objects and the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation (a non-federally 
recognized Indian group) and Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe (a non-
federally recognized Indian group).
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact Patricia Capone, Repatriation Coordinator, Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, 
Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 496-3702, before January 8, 2007. 
Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to the Wampanoag 
Repatriation Confederation, on behalf of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay 
Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts, Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation 
(a non-federally recognized Indian group), and Mashpee Wampanoag Indian 
Tribe (a non-federally recognized Indian group) may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is responsible for 
notifying the Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation, Wampanoag Tribe of 
Gay Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts, Assonet Band of the Wampanoag 
Nation (a non-federally recognized Indian group), and Mashpee Wampanoag 
Indian Tribe (a non-federally recognized Indian group) that this notice 
has been published.

    Dated: November 9, 2006
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-20749 Filed 12-6-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S