01-24966. Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.10(a)(3), of the intent to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA that meet the definition of “unassociated funerary objects” under Section 2 of the Act.

This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2 (c). The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of these cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within this notice.

The 10 cultural items were donated to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology by J.H. Woods in 1922. These objects were collected at an unknown date and consist of one shell ornament, one unfinished stone discoidal, one effigy head bead, and seven shell and glass beads.

According to museum documentation, these cultural items came from graves in unknown locations throughout Broome County, NY. No additional provenience information is available. These objects most likely date to the Contact period or later (post-A.D. 1500). Glass beads were introduced by Europeans as trade items in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, and the effigy bead appears to have been carved with a metal tool, which would have been available only from the Contact period on. The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology does not have possession of the human remains from these burials.

Museum records clearly indicate that these cultural items were removed from specific burials of Native American individuals. Based on the archeological materials from the sites, museum documentation, oral histories presented by the Cayuga Nation of New York, Oneida Nation of New York, Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, Onondaga Nation of New York, St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York, Seneca Nation of New York, Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York, and Tuscarora Nation of New York, the date of the cultural items, and the provenience of these cultural items from areas considered to be aboriginal homelands and traditional burial areas of the Oneida, a reasonable link of shared group identity may be made between these cultural items and the Oneida Nation of New York and the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin.

Based upon the above-mentioned information, officials of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2(d)(2)(ii), these 10 cultural items 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 specific burial sites of Native American individuals. Officials of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology also have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2(e), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between these unassociated funerary objects and the Oneida Nation of New York and the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin.

This notice has been sent to officials of the Cayuga Nation of New York; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Oneida Nation of New York; Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin; Onondaga Nation of New York; St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York; Seneca Nation of New York; Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma; Stockbridge-Munsee Community of Mohican Indians of Wisconsin; Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York; Tuscarora Nation of New York; and the nonfederally recognized Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these unassociated funerary objects should contact Patricia Capone, Repatriation Coordinator, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone [phone], before November 5, 2001. Repatriation of these unassociated funerary objects to Oneida Nation of New York and the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin may begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.

Dated: July 3, 2001.

John Robbins,

Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.