Notice of Intended Repatriation: Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, 89031-89033 [2024-26083]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89031-89033]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26083]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039001; 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 December 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Wendi Field Murray, Wesleyan University (Archaeology & 
Anthropology Collections), 265 Church Street, Middletown, CT 06033, 
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 257 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. 
The 257 unassociated funerary objects are shell ornaments and beads, 
stone mortars/vessels, bone tools, digging stick weights, a spherical 
stone object, a stone pendant, bifacial manos, stone pestles, stone 
weight/sinker, glass beads, cut shell with ochre, asphaltum skirt 
weights, shell fishhooks, a bird bone whistle, a stone plummet, stone 
knives, black chia seeds, and red ochre.

Dos Pueblos, CA

    Sixty-four objects, including shell beads and ornaments and one 
stone pestle, were taken by Paul Schumacher from Dos Pueblos, CA in 
Santa Barbara County during the 1870s. They were all transferred from 
the Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in 
1878.

[[Page 89032]]

Santa Barbara County, CA

    One hundred-twenty objects originated in Santa Barbara County, CA. 
They include a stone vessel, a bone tool, asphaltum skirt weights, 
shell beads, a shell ornament, and an abalone fishhook blank taken by 
Paul Schumacher in the 1870s; a stone vessel, a digging stick weight, a 
stone sphere, bifacial manos, shell beads and ornaments, a stone 
plummet, and stone knives taken by Stephen Bowers in the 1870s; and 
black chia seeds ``from an Indian grave'' taken by Lt. George Montague 
Wheeler sometime prior to 1878. They were all transferred from the 
Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in 1878.
    There are two additional objects from Santa Barbara County (a stone 
pestle and a stone tube pipe) taken by Schumacher and originally 
included in 1878 transfer paperwork (as well as a 1971 collections 
inventory) but were 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 
Schumacher-related objects listed above.

Santa Cruz Island, CA

    Forty-one objects originated in Santa Cruz Island, CA. They include 
a stone pestle, and shell beads and ornaments taken by Paul Schumacher 
in the 1870s; and shell beads and ornaments, a shell fishhook, a bone 
tool, and a bird bone whistle taken by Stephen Bowers in the 1870s. Two 
of the shell ornaments are not definitively attributed to an individual 
collector in museum catalog records but are listed as being taken by 
``Stephen Bowers OR Paul Schumacher.'' They were all transferred from 
the Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in 
1878.

Santa Rosa Island, CA

    Fifteen objects originated in Santa Rosa Island, CA. They include 
bone tools/implements, stone pestles, and shell beads and ornaments 
taken by Stephen Bowers in the 1870s. One of the objects (a string of 
beads) is not definitively attributed to an individual collector in 
museum catalog records but are listed as being taken by ``Stephen 
Bowers OR Paul Schumacher.'' They were all transferred from the 
Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in 1878.
    There is one additional object from Santa Rosa Island (glass beads 
attributed to ``Indian graves'' in museum catalog records) taken by 
Bowers and originally included in 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 Bowers-related objects listed above.

``San Rosa,'' CA

    Two objects attributed to ``San Rosa, CA'' in Wesleyan's ethnology 
records include a polished stone plummet and stone weight/sinker. They 
were taken by John Waterman sometime prior to 1899, when Wesleyan 
acquired them. Based on Wesleyan's focus on collections from the 
Channel Islands during the late 19th century, as well as the museum's 
cataloging conventions for abbreviating ``Santa Rosa Island'' in our 
records to ``San Rosa,'' these objects are also presumably from Santa 
Rosa Island, and are consistent with the types of objects likely to be 
included in Chumash burials.

Santa Ynez, CA

    Three objects originating in Santa Ynez, CA include bone tools and 
strung shell ornaments, were taken by Stephen Bowers in the 1870s. They 
were all transferred from the Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's 
natural history museum in 1878.

San Luis Obispo, CA

    Two objects originating in San Luis Obispo, CA include two strings 
of shell beads taken by Dr. Hayes in the 1870s and transferred to 
Wesleyan via a transfer from the Smithsonian Institution in 1878.

Unknown CA, Likely Channel Islands

    Three jars of red ochre are likely attributed to the Channel 
Islands and the collecting activities of Stephen Bowers in the 1870s. 
They are believed to have been transferred from the Smithsonian 
Institution to Wesleyan's natural history museum in 1878.

Unknown, California

    Three objects, including glass beads and shell beads and ornaments, 
are from an unknown location in California, but are listed in museum 
records as being likely connected to the collecting activities of 
Stephen Bowers and/or Paul Schumacher in the 1870s. They were all 
likely transferred from the Smithsonian Institution to Wesleyan's 
natural history museum in 1878.
    There is one additional object from California (a stone projectile 
point) taken by Bowers and originally included in 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 Bowers-related objects 
listed above.
    Both Stephen Bowers' and Paul Shumacher's collecting was prolific 
in the Channel Islands and other parts of California during the 1870s--
both worked for the Smithsonian and were known to excavate Chumash 
burials. The looting of Native American burials figures prominently in 
the documentation of their work via reports and personal journals, 
making it likely that the 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.
    For those objects from the Smithsonian attributed to Dr. Hayes and 
Lt. GM Wheeler, the nature of the objects, the known the timing of 
their taking, and their association with Wesleyan's bulk acquisition of 
CA funerary objects from the Smithsonian during the late 19th century 
make it likely that they are also unassociated funerary objects. 
Nothing is known about Jonathan Waterman, though the nature of the 
items suggests that they are likely funerary objects.
    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 geographical areas in from 
which these were taken indicates a cultural affiliation with 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 (particularly those transferred from the Smithsonian, as 
the requested objects are). While pesticides were not typically applied 
to non-organic objects due to their inherent resilience to pest damage, 
the objects have potentially been intermingling with organic objects in 
a large ethnographic teaching collection since the 1870s, and possibly 
with natural

[[Page 89033]]

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 257 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 Santa Ynez Band of Chumash 
Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, 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 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 December 12, 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: October 29, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-26083 Filed 11-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P