[Federal Register: March 15, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 50)]
[Notices]               
[Page 14067-14068]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15mr11-126]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]

 
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Massachusetts, 
Department of Anthropology, Amherst, MA and Nantucket Historical 
Association, Nantucket, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    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 
object in the possession of the University of Massachusetts, Department 
of Anthropology, Amherst, MA, and the Nantucket Historical Association, 
Nantucket, MA. The human remains and associated funerary object were 
removed from the Marshall Site, Nantucket County, MA.
    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 object. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by University 
of Massachusetts, Department of Anthropology, professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Wampanoag Repatriation 
Confederation, representing the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Massachusetts; 
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts; and the 
Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, Massachusetts, a non-Federally 
recognized Indian group.
    In 1966, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were removed from the Marshall Site, Nantucket, Nantucket County, MA, 
during an archeological field school conducted by Professor William 
Harrison of the University of Massachusetts. It is believed that the 
two grave shafts were originally one multiple interment that was 
disturbed by the repeated digging of shallow fire pits. No known 
individuals were identified. The one associated funerary object is a 
pottery vessel. In 1989, the vessel was transferred to the Nantucket 
Historical Association for permanent curation and is no longer in the 
control of the University of Massachusetts, Department of Anthropology, 
instead it is in the control of the Nantucket Historical Association.
    Based on excavation records, condition of the human remains, the 
associated funerary object and burial methods, the individuals have 
been identified as Native American. Material culture and site features 
indicate that the Marshall Site was utilized for short-term, sporadic 
occupations from the late Archaic/early Woodland period into the 19th 
century. The human remains most likely date to the late Woodland Period 
or later (post-A.D. 1000).
    Ethnohistoric documents, including European colonial maps, 
missionary accounts and Wampanoag oral history, indicate that the 
Wampanoag people and their allies, through marriage and war pacts (e.g. 
1675 King Phillip's War), were occupants of Massachusetts and Rhode 
Island at the time of contact and European colonization. Wampanoag oral 
history indicates a maintained, long-term occupation of the region to 
which can be traced a common ancestry to a ``first Mother,'' predating 
the colonization of the area including the Marshall Site. The present-
day Indian tribes and group that are most closely affiliated with 
members of the Wampanoag Nation are the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, 
Massachusetts; Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts; 
and the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, Massachusetts, a non-
Federally recognized Indian group.
    Officials of the University of Massachusetts, Department of 
Anthropology, have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), that the 
human remains described above represent the physical remains of three 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the University of 
Massachusetts, Department of Anthropology, and Nantucket Historical 
Association also have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), 
that the one object described above is 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. Lastly, officials of the 
University of Massachusetts, Department of Anthropology, and Nantucket 
Historical Association have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), 
that there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be 
reasonably traced between the Native American human remains and the 
associated funerary object and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, 
Massachusetts; Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts; 
and the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, Massachusetts, a non-
Federally recognized Indian group.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact either 
Robert Paynter, Repatriation Committee Chair, telephone (413) 545-2221, 
or Rae Gould, Repatriation Coordinator, telephone (413) 545-2702, 
University of Massachusetts, Department of Anthropology, 201 Machmer 
Hall, 240 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003, and any representatives of any 
other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally

[[Page 14068]]

affiliated with the associated funerary object should contact Ben 
Simons, Chief Curator, Nantucket Historical Association, P.O. Box 1016, 
Nantucket, MA 02554, telephone (508) 228-1894, ext. 303, before April 
14, 2011. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
object to the Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation on behalf of the 
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Massachusetts; Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head 
(Aquinnah) of Massachusetts; and the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag 
Nation, Massachusetts, a non-Federally recognized Indian group, may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The University of Massachusetts, Department of Anthropology, and 
Nantucket Historical Association are responsible for notifying the 
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Massachusetts; Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head 
(Aquinnah) of Massachusetts; and Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, 
Massachusetts, a non-Federally recognized Indian group, that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: March 9, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-5887 Filed 3-14-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P