[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 210 (Wednesday, October 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86356-86357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-25189]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038957; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Proposed Transfer or Reinterment: Wesleyan University, 
Archaeology & Anthropology Collections, 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 proposes to transfer 
human remains listed in a notice of inventory completion published in 
the Federal Register on August 12, 2024.

DATES: Repatriation, transfer, or reinterment of the human remains in 
this notice may occur on or after November 29, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendi Field Murray, Wesleyan 
University (Archaeology & Anthropology Collections), Middletown, CT 
06459, telephone (860) 685-2085, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5d2a30282f2f3c246d6c1d2a382e3138243c3373383928"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9deaf0e8efeffce4adacddeaf8eef1f8e4fcf3b3f8f9e8">[email protected]</span></a>. 
Individuals who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech 
disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

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 its 
inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    This notice follows publication of a Notice of Inventory Completion 
in the Federal Register (89 FR 65657-65658, August 12, 2024). Human 
remains representing, at least, 16 individuals have been identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present. The remains of these 16 
individuals were once part of an osteological teaching collection, 
which included skeletal elements that had been prepared and used for 
anatomical instruction

[[Page 86357]]

sometime between the 19th and 20th centuries. In August 2013 any human 
remains in the osteological collection that showed evidence of having 
been disinterred (visible soil/staining, water damage, and weathering) 
rather than mechanically cleaned/prepared by a medical supply vendor or 
other entity were presumed to be Native American. Wesleyan has no 
records suggesting their geographic origin or acquisition history.
    The presence of potentially hazardous substances (i.e., pesticide 
residues) on these remains in 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. While pesticides were 
not typically applied to human skeletal remains, they were managed 
together with organic objects in a large ethnographic teaching 
collection, so cross-contamination is a possibility.
    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 or paradichlorobenzene (PDB) around the room, and the 
placement of a mildew-retarding insecticide inside the wraps of museum 
specimens. The specific contents of the room in which the chemicals 
were applied, and to what extent they were shielded from them, is 
unknown.

Consultation

    Invitations to consult were sent to the Mashantucket Pequot Indian 
Tribe; Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut; and the Narragansett 
Indian Tribe. Invitations to consult were also sent to the following 
non-federally recognized Indian groups: Brothertown Indian Nation, 
Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation; Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation; and 
the Schagticoke Indian Nation. The Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe and 
the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut responded to the invitation 
and participated in consultation. Other Indian Tribes and/or groups 
either chose to defer, participated in preliminary phone calls, or did 
not participate.

Cultural Affiliation

    No information about the cultural affiliation of the human remains 
in this notice are available. The information, including the results of 
consultation, identified:
    1. No earlier group connected to the human remains.
    2. No Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization connected to the 
human remains.
    3. No relationship of shared group identity between the earlier 
group and the Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization that can be 
reasonably traced through time.

Determinations

    Wesleyan University has determined that:
    <bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 16 individuals of Native American ancestry.
    <bullet> No known lineal descendant who can trace ancestry to the 
human remains in this notice has been identified.
    <bullet> No Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with 
cultural affiliation to the human remains in this notice has been 
clearly or reasonably identified.
    <bullet> The Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe and the Mohegan Tribe 
of Indians of Connecticut have requested transfer of the human remains 
described in this notice.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this 
notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this 
notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native 
Hawaiian organization who shows, by a preponderance of the evidence, 
that the requestor is a lineal descendant or an Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization with cultural affiliation.
    Repatriation, transfer, or reinterment of the human remains 
described in this notice may occur on or after November 29, 2024. If 
requests for repatriation are received, Wesleyan University must 
evaluate the requests and respond in writing to the requestors. 
Wesleyan University is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
any consulting lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: October 25, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-25189 Filed 10-29-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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