Notice of Intended Repatriation: Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 71387-71388 [2024-19683]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71387-71388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19683]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038626; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: Wesleyan University, Middletown, 
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), Wesleyan University 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 October 3, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Wendi Field Murray, Wesleyan University (Archaeology & 
Anthropology Collections), 265 Church Street, Exley Science Building, 
Middletown, CT 06459, telephone (860)-685-2085, 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 
Wesleyan University 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 five cultural items have been jointly requested for 
repatriation. The five unassociated funerary objects are two stone 
mortars (1972.103.1; 1971.24.1) and three stone pestles (1971.364.1; 
1971.365.1; 1971.367.1). All five objects were taken by Paul Schumacher 
from San Nicolas Island, CA during the 1870s (likely 1877) while he was 
employed as an archaeologist for the National Park Service. 
Schumacher's collecting was prolific in the Channel Islands during the 
1870s. The looting of Native American burials figures prominently in 
the documentation of his work via reports and his personal journals, 
making it probable that these items are from funerary contexts. They 
were initially delivered to the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1878, 
they were included in a large (Smithsonian) transfer of cultural 
objects originating in the Channel Islands and other parts of 
California to Wesleyan University's natural history museum. It should 
also be noted that there was a sixth object (a stone pestle, 
1971.446.1) from San Nicolas Island taken by Schumacher and originally 
included in the 1878 transfer paperwork (as well as a 1971 collections 
inventory), but was discovered to be missing by Wesleyan collections 
staff in 1999. It has not yet been found, but for future reference this 
object has the same provenance and cultural affiliation as the five 
objects listed above. No cultural affiliation information was included 
in the records of the taking or the transfer, though their geographical 
origin and the well-documented cultural, historical, geographical, and 
linguistic connections between the claimants and the southern Channel 
Islands indicates a cultural affiliation with the Pay[oacute]mkawichum 
(Luise[ntilde]o) Tribal Bands and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash 
Indians.
    The presence of potentially hazardous substances (i.e., pesticide 
residues) on these particular objects is unknown. In 2021, Wesleyan 
University discovered the presence of pesticide residue (arsenic) on 
one organic object from Samoa that was transferred from the Smithsonian 
in the 19th century, as well as several taxidermy specimens. This 
suggests the possibility that other objects in the collection may be 
contaminated. While pesticides were not typically applied to stone 
objects due to their inherent resilience to pest damage, the objects 
from San Nicolas have potentially been intermingling with organic 
objects in a large ethnographic teaching collection since the 1870s, 
and possibly with natural history specimens as well. To what extent 
Wesleyan staff attempted to mitigate cross-contamination when objects 
were stored or handled is unknown. There is one documented instance of 
pest fumigation relating to the collections that dates to 1972-1973. 
This was to treat a silverfish infestation in underground storage rooms 
that held the museum's objects after it closed. The proposal was for 
the application of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) to the floors, 
the placement of open containers of paradichlorobenzene (PDB) around 
the room, and the placement of a mildew-retarding insecticide inside 
the wraps of specimens. The specific contents of the room in which the 
chemicals were applied, and to what extent they were shielded from 
them, is unknown.

Determinations

    Wesleyan University has determined that:
     The five 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.
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural 
items described in this notice and the La Jolla Band of Luiseno 
Indians, California; Pala Band of Mission Indians; Pauma Band of 
Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pauma & Yuima Reservation, California; 
Pechanga Band of Indians (previously listed as Pechanga Band of Luiseno 
Mission Indians of the Pechanga Reservation, California); Rincon Band 
of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Rincon Reservation, California; Santa 
Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, 
California; and the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, California.

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

[[Page 71388]]

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 October 3, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, Wesleyan University 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. Wesleyan University 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 26, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-19683 Filed 8-30-24; 8:45 am]
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