[Federal Register: June 22, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 121)]
[Notices]
[Page 33556]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22jn01-87]

[[Page 33556]]
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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 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]
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