[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 121 (Friday, June 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 33556]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-15719]



[[Page 33556]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 cultural items are 1 stone fish effigy, 1 stone muller, 8 net 
spacer-like objects of stone, 6 ground stone fragments, 19 obsidian 
stone tools, 1 animal bone, 9 obsidian flakes, 5 obsidian scrapers, 15 
obsidian pebbles, 15 glass beads, 3 large brass buttons, 2 brass rings, 
2 rolled copper tube rings, 8 brass and copper pendants, 1 brass 
brooch, 7 fragments of sheet copper and brass, 1 iron hammer of a 
flintlock pistol (represented by 2 pieces), and 62 sheet copper beads.
    In 1910, Grace A. Nicholson purchased the cultural items from an 
unknown excavator who recovered them on her behalf from an unknown 
locality in southern Oregon, approximately 18 miles from the Klamath 
Agency. In 1910, Ms. Nicholson sold the cultural items to Lewis Farlow, 
who donated them to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology the 
same year. Museum documentation indicates that these cultural items 
were associated with burials and were recovered from the place ``where 
the dead doctors were burned.''
    Based on the types of artifacts recovered, these cultural items 
date to the historic period, most likely the 19th century. The nature 
of these cultural items and descriptions of their context in the museum 
sources are consistent with ethnographic descriptions of Klamath burial 
practices in Klamath territory in Oregon during the 19th century. These 
practices include the use of cremation piles with the inclusion of 
objects such as glass beads, metal rings, and gun parts. Several known 
historic cremation piles approximately 18 miles from the Klamath Agency 
in Klamath territory have been identified subsequent to 1910. 
Consultation with representatives of the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon 
also supports the historic nature of this burial practice in Klamath 
territory.
    Based on 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 167 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 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 that can be reasonably traced between these cultural 
items and the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Klamath Indian Tribe 
of Oregon. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes 
itself to be culturally affiliated with these unassociated funerary 
objects should contact Barbara Isaac, Repatriation Coordinator, Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity 
Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 495-2254, before July 23, 
2001. Repatriation of these unassociated funerary objects to the 
Klamath Indian Tribe, Oregon may begin after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.

    Dated: June 4, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-15719 Filed 6-21-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F