Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, 2126 [2023-00476]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 2126]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00476]



[[Page 2126]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035106; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Bryn Mawr College, 
Bryn Mawr, PA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Bryn Mawr College 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. The cultural 
items were removed from Jackson County, AL; Montgomery County, AL; 
Adams County, MS; Greene County, TN; Knox County, TN; and Roane County, 
TN.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after February 13, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Marianne Weldon, Bryn Mawr College, 101 N Merion Avenue, 
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010, telephone (610) 526-5022, email 
[email protected].

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 Bryn 
Mawr College. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice. Additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the summary or related records held by Bryn Mawr 
College.

Description

    William Sansom Vaux bequeathed a collection to the Academy of 
Natural Sciences (ANS) upon his death in 1882. ANS accessioned them on 
June 27, 1912. In 1961, ANS loaned approximately 3,000 items, including 
the 29 unassociated funerary objects described below, to Bryn Mawr 
College. In 1997, the ANS board voted to transfer control to Bryn Mawr 
College and executed the paperwork in 1998.
    One cultural item was removed from a shell mound in Jackson County, 
AL. The unassociated funerary object is one discoidal or chunkey stone 
(70.30.2).
    One cultural item was removed from Meigs, Montgomery County, AL. 
The unassociated funerary object is one spearhead (70.30.1).
    Fourteen cultural items were removed from Natchez, Adams County, 
MI. The 14 unassociated funerary objects are one bannerstone 
(70.31.46), five bowls (73.3.3, 73.3.6, 73.3.7, 73.3.8, 73.3.9), four 
celts (70.31.25, 70.31.30, 70.31.31, 70.31.32), and four vessels 
(73.3.1, 73.3.2, 73.3.4, 73.3.5).
    Five cultural items were removed from Lick Creek Mound, Greene 
County, TN. The five unassociated funerary objects are one lot of beads 
(70.24.132, 70.24.133), two gorgets (70.24.130, 70.24.131), and two 
pipes (70.24.123, 70.24.124).
    One cultural item was removed from a mound site in Greene County, 
TN. The unassociated funerary object is one necklace (70.24.140).
    Three cultural items were removed from Knoxville Mound, Knox 
County, TN. The unassociated funerary objects are one lot of beads 
(70.24.134, 70.24.135, 70.24.136, 70.24.137, 70.24.138, 70.24.139) and 
two pins (70.24.142, 0.24.143).
    One cultural item was removed from a mound site in Knoxville, Knox 
County, TN. The unassociated funerary object is one gorget (70.24.129).
    Two cultural items were removed from Knoxville, Knox County, TN. 
The unassociated funerary objects are one pin (70.24.144) and one 
gorget (70.24.145).
    One cultural item was removed from the Clark River, Roane County, 
TN. The unassociated funerary object is one pin (70.24.141).

Cultural Affiliation

    The cultural items in this notice are connected to one or more 
identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a 
relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier 
groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were 
used to reasonably trace the relationship: geographical and expert 
opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, Bryn Mawr College has determined that:
     The 29 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
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 February 13, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, Bryn Mawr College 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. Bryn Mawr is responsible for sending a copy of 
this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: January 4, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-00476 Filed 1-11-23; 8:45 am]
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