[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 6, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76282-76283]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-30997]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


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.

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    Notice is hereby given under 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 37 cultural items are 1 pair of scissors, 8 bracelets, 7 
thimbles, 2 knives, 1 glass ball, 2 horn spoons, 1 powder horn, 2 
fragments of a powder horn, 1 bone whistle, 1 bone scraper, 2 stones, 1 
gunflint, 1 beaded necklace, 6 beaded ornaments and loose beads, and 
yellow paint.
    Prior to 1870, human remains and associated funerary objects were 
collected by Assistant Surgeon A. I. Comfort, U.S. Army, from graves at 
the Old Ponca Agency, Knox County, NE. Surgeon Comfort donated the 
human remains and the associated funerary objects to the Army Medical 
Museum (forerunner of the National Museum of Health and Medicine), 
Washington, DC, in 1870. Surgeon Comfort's letter of transmittal to the 
Army Medical Museum identified the graves as culturally affiliated with 
the Ponca.
    The human remains were later transferred to the Smithsonian 
Institution, Washington, DC, by the Army Medical Museum. The National 
Museum of Natural History repatriated these human remains to the Ponca 
Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska in 1998.
    In 1874, a beaded necklace from one of these graves was transferred 
to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology from the Army 
Medical Museum.
    In 1876, one powder horn and one gun flint from one of these graves 
were transferred to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology by 
the Army Medical Museum. Surgeon Comfort described the gunflint as a 
``wahintka'' or ``skin scraper.''
    Prior to 1869, human remains and associated funerary objects were 
collected by Acting Assistant Surgeon G. P. Hachenberg, U.S. Army, from 
a grave near the Old Ponca Agency, Knox County, NE. Surgeon Hachenberg 
donated the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Army 
Medical Museum in 1869. Museum records indicate that the grave was that 
of a Ponca woman.
    The human remains were later transferred to the Smithsonian 
Institution by the Army Medical Museum. The National Museum of Natural 
History repatriated these human remains to the Ponca Tribe of Indians 
of Oklahoma and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska in 1998.
    In 1876, one pair of scissors and one glass ball were transferred 
to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology from the Army 
Medical Museum.

[[Page 76283]]

    Prior to 1871, human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed by Assistant Surgeon George N. Hopkins, U.S. Army, from a grave 
near the Old Ponca Agency, Knox County, NE. Surgeon Hopkins donated 
these human remains and associated funerary objects to the Army Medical 
Museum in April of 1871. Surgeon Hopkins' letter of transmittal to the 
Army Medical Museum identifies the grave as Ponca.
    The human remains were later transferred to the Smithsonian 
Institution by the Army Medical Museum. The National Museum of Natural 
History repatriated these human remains to the Ponca Tribe of Indians 
of Oklahoma and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska in 1998.
    In 1876, 32 cultural items including 8 bracelets, 2 horn spoons, 1 
bone scraper, 2 butcher knives, 7 thimbles, 1 bone whistle, 6 beaded 
ornaments and loose beads, 2 stones, 2 fragments of a powder horn, and 
yellow paint were transferred to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology from the Army Medical Museum.
    Because the human remains associated with these cultural items were 
repatriated to the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and the Ponca 
Tribe of Nebraska in 1998, these cultural items are considered 
unassociated funerary objects.
    Based on the above information, officials of the Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d) (2) (ii), the 37 cultural items listed above 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 evidence, to have been removed from 
a specific burial site of a Native American individual. 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 which can be reasonably traced between these items and 
the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Ponca Tribe of 
Indians of Oklahoma and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Representatives of 
any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated 
with these cultural items should contact Barbara Isaac, Repatriation 
Coordinator, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 11 Divinity 
Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 495-2254, before January 
5, 2001. Repatriation of these cultural items to the Ponca Tribe of 
Indians of Oklahoma and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska may begin after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: November 17, 2000.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources, Stewardship, and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 00-30997 Filed 12-5-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F