2023-23558. Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) intends to repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of an unassociated funerary object and that has a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural item was removed from Hampden County, MA.

DATES:

Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or after November 24, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Patricia Capone, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

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 the PMAE. 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 the PMAE.

Description

The one cultural item was removed from Hampden County, MA. The cultural item was collected by Harry A. Wright from a cemetery at the Long Hill site in Springfield, Hampden County, MA, between 1891 and 1896. Wright donated the cultural item to the PMAE in 1907. Wright removed the cultural item from a grave containing the human remains of at least 13 individuals. Wright described the individuals as embedded in a layer of dry sand and surrounded by a layer of “charcoal,” which may have been a misinterpretation of decayed woven burial mats. The cultural item lay in the layer of “charcoal” and was not associated with any specific individual. Descriptions of the burial indicate that two metal spoons and European-made buckles were also interred with the individuals and a few Dutch “fairy pipes,” flint flakes, and a stone axe laid on and near the surface of the grave. None of these items are in the possession of the Peabody Museum. The one unassociated funerary object is a Colonoware cup.

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: archeological, geographical, historical, kinship, linguistic, and oral tradition.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the PMAE has determined that:

• The one cultural item described above is 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 is 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 item and the Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin.

Requests for Repatriation

Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 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 item in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after November 24, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the PMAE must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural item are considered a single request and not competing requests. The PMAE is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations 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: October 18, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.