Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 48677-48678 [E7-16780]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 164 (Friday, August 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48677-48678]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16780]


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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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA that meets 
the definition of ``unassociated funerary objects'' under 25 U.S.C. 
3001.
    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.
    The four cultural items are three brass sheet fragments and one 
vial of shell and glass bead fragments.
    In 1903, three cultural items were recovered from the Silverheels 
site in Brant, Erie County, NY, during a Peabody Museum of Archaeology 
and Ethnology expedition led by M.R. Harrington and A.C. Parker. Museum 
documentation indicates that the cultural items were interred with 
human remains. The human remains that were originally associated with 
these items were published in a Notice of Inventory Completion in the 
Federal Register on October 5, 2001 (FR Doc 01-24963; pages 51060-
51062), and have since been transferred to the culturally affiliated 
groups. Therefore, the cultural items are now unassociated funerary 
objects. The three unassociated funerary objects are brass sheet 
fragments.
    This interment most likely dates to the early Contact period (A.D. 
1500-1700). Sheet brass was a European import item, and therefore 
indicates a post-contact date. In the Haudenosaunee region, objects of 
European brass are usually found on Native sites, which date to the 
second quarter of the 16th century and later. Other artifacts from this 
site which support an early Contact date include Levanna and Madison 
style projectile points; ceramic vessels with globular bodies, 
constricted zoned-incised necks, and castellated rims; and a variety of 
terra cotta pipes. Multi-variate attributes and statistical analysis of 
ceramic artifacts from the Silverheels site indicates the site 
represents a single occupation during the early 17th century.
    In 1904, one cultural item was recovered from the Ripley Site in 
Ripley, Chautauqua County, NY, during a Peabody Museum of Archaeology 
and Ethnology expedition led by M.R. Harrington. Museum documentation 
indicates that this item was interred with human remains. The human 
remains that were originally associated with this item were published 
in a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register on October 
5, 2001 (FR Doc 01-24963, pages 51060-51062), and have since been 
transferred to the culturally affiliated groups. Therefore, this 
cultural item is now an unassociated funerary object. The one 
unassociated funerary object is a vial of shell and glass bead 
fragments.
    This interment most likely dates to the Late Woodland period (A.D. 
1300-1450) or early Contact period (A.D. 1550-1650). Glass beads were 
introduced by Europeans as trade items in the late 16th[sol]early 17th 
century. Artifacts from this site which support a Late Woodland period 
or later date include Levanna and Madison style projectile points; 
ceramic vessels with globular bodies, constricted zoned-incised necks, 
and castellated rims; and a variety of terra cotta pipes including 
trumpet shaped bowls and bowls with representations of human faces and 
animals. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the site is multi-component 
with occupations between A.D. 1300-1450 and A.D. 1550-1650.
    Museum records and consultation evidence indicate that the cultural 
items were removed from specific burials of Native Americans. 
Consultation with representatives from the Iroquois suggests that Erie 
County and Chautauqua County, NY, were within the traditional territory 
of the Seneca Nation during the periods from which these interments 
date. Furthermore, due to a shared cultural identity among the member 
Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Nations have requested that 
cultural affiliation be to all of the present-day Iroquois groups. 
Descendants of the Iroquois are members of the Cayuga Nation of New 
York; Oneida Nation of New York; Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin;

[[Page 48678]]

Onondaga Nation of New York; Seneca Nation of New York; Seneca-Cayuga 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, New York (formerly the St. 
Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York); Tonawanda Band of Seneca 
Indians of New York; and Tuscarora Nation of New York.
    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 
Native American individuals. Officials of the Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology also have 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 Cayuga Nation of New York; Oneida Nation of New York; Oneida Tribe 
of Indians of Wisconsin; Onondaga Nation of New York; Seneca Nation of 
New York; Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, 
New York (formerly the St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York); 
Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York; and Tuscarora Nation of 
New York.
    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, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, 
telephone (617) 496-3702, before September 24, 2007. Repatriation of 
the unassociated funerary objects to the Cayuga Nation of New York; 
Oneida Nation of New York; Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin; 
Onondaga Nation of New York; Seneca Nation of New York; Seneca-Cayuga 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, New York (formerly the St. 
Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York); Tonawanda Band of Seneca 
Indians of New York; and Tuscarora Nation of New York may proceed after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is responsible for 
notifying the Cayuga Nation of New York; Oneida Nation of New York; 
Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin; Onondaga Nation of New York; 
Seneca Nation of New York; Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma; Saint Regis 
Mohawk Tribe, New York (formerly the St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians 
of New York); Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York; and 
Tuscarora Nation of New York that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 3, 2007
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-16780 Filed 8-23-07; 8:45 am]
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