2024-05857. Notice of Inventory Completion: New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the New Jersey State Museum has completed an inventory of associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

DATES:

Repatriation of the associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after April 19, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Dr. Gregory D. Lattanzi, New Jersey State Museum, 205 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08625, 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 New Jersey State Museum, and additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

Based on the information available, 174 associated funerary objects are one large, reconstructed pot, pottery sherds, and lithics. This list comprises additional objects from a Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register (83 FR 28262–28263, June 18, 2018). These funerary objects were excavated by Norman Lister at the Abbott Farm National Historic Landmark (28–Me–1), located in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, sometime in the early 1930s. There is no record of the associated funerary objects, being treated with pesticides, preservatives, or other substances that represent a potential hazard to the object(s) or to person(s) handling the object(s).

Cultural Affiliation

Based on the information available and the results of consultation, cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available about the associated funerary objects described in this notice.

Determinations

The New Jersey State Museum has determined that:

• The 174 objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
• There is a reasonable connection between the associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under ADDRESSES . Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:

1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.

2. 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 associated funerary objects in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after April 19, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the New Jersey State Museum must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing requests. The New Jersey State Museum 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 10.10.

Dated: March 11, 2024.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.