[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 132 (Tuesday, July 12, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41350-41351]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14780]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034164; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Natural 
History, Yale University, New Haven, CT

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Peabody Museum of Natural History (hereafter the Yale 
Peabody Museum), has completed an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate 
Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that 
there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any 
Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this 
notice who wish to request transfer of control of these human remains 
and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the 
Yale Peabody Museum. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer 
of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations 
stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice who wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the Yale Peabody Museum at the address in 
this notice by August 11, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Professor David Skelly, Director, Yale 
Peabody Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 
06520-8118, telephone (203) 432-3752.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the Peabody Museum of 
Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from Warren County, MS.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Yale Peabody 
Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously listed as Alabama-
Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta 
Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Jena Band of 
Choctaw Indians; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Mississippi Band of Choctaw 
Indians; Quapaw Nation (previously listed as The Quapaw Tribe of 
Indians); The Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The 
Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Osage Nation (previously listed as Osage 
Tribe); and the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe (hereafter referred to as 
``The Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    Sometime prior to 1869, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed by George W. Gould from a mound near Warrenton 
in Warren County, MS. They were donated to the Yale Peabody Museum in 
1869. The human remains belong to an adult of undetermined sex. No 
known individual was identified. The 81 associated funerary objects are 
10 celts and chisels, two adzes, three chunkey stones, one hammerstone, 
30 projectile points, five potsherds, 18 shark teeth, four pebbles, two 
ornamental disk fragments, and six ceramic vessels.
    Historical, geographical, and archeological documentation 
demonstrate that the area of Warrenton was home to the Plaquemine 
cultures who were indigenous to the Natchez Bluffs region of 
Mississippi circa. A.D. 1000-1600. Excavation records and catalog 
documentation demonstrate that the human remains and cultural items 
were known to be Native American at the time of their removal and 
subsequent donation; archeological evidence demonstrates a likely 
connection between these items and those found at various recorded 
Plaquemine cultural period sites; and the associated funerary objects--
specifically the whole vessels--are consistent with the stylistic 
features of Late Plaquemine vessels found at the Glass Site (22Wr502), 
a neighboring mound complex located approximately five miles east of 
Warrenton. Based on parameters previously determined by the Mississippi 
Department of Archives and History and The Tribes, a relationship of 
shared group identity can be established between The Tribes and the 
earlier group to which the human remains and associated objects belong.

Determinations Made by the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale 
University

    Officials of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University 
have determined that:
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 81 objects described 
in this notice 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.
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and The Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice who wish to request 
transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary 
objects should submit a written request with information in support of 
the request to Professor David Skelly, Director, Yale Peabody Museum of 
Natural History, P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 06520-8118, telephone 
(203) 432-3752, by August 11, 2022. After that date, if no additional 
requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.
    The Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University is 
responsible for notifying The Tribes that this notice has been 
published.


[[Page 41351]]


    Dated: June 29, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-14780 Filed 7-11-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P