[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 11, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 62833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-26179]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: 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, Yale University, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribe, has determined that the 
cultural item meets the definition of unassociated funerary object and 
repatriation to the Indian tribe stated below may occur if no 
additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural item 
may contact the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural item should contact the Peabody 
Museum of Natural History, Yale University at the address below by 
November 10, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Professor Derek E.G. Briggs, Director, 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate a cultural item in the 
possession of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, 
New Haven, CT, that meets the definition of unassociated funerary 
object under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural 
item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item

    In 1886, Mrs. Kate Foot Coe collected one chilkat blanket on 
Kiloosnoo Island, AK. On November 19, 1902, Mrs. Foot Coe donated it to 
the Peabody Museum of Natural History. The museum's catalog describes 
the blanket as being found in a ``receptacle on the top of a totem pole 
containing the bones and ashes of a cremated body.'' No human remains 
associated with this blanket are in the museum's collection.
    The catalog description of the blanket indicates that it was 
collected from a funerary context and was in association with bones at 
the time that it was collected. Based on the collection location on 
Kiloosnoo Island in the Northwest Coast culture area, the recovery of 
the blanket from a grave pole, and the type of object (chilkat 
blanket), this item is believed to be culturally affiliated with the 
Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes.

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

    Officials of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University 
have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the single cultural item 
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 and is believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary object and the Central Council of the Tlingit & 
Haida Indian Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary object should 
contact Professor Derek E.G. Briggs, Director, Peabody Museum of 
Natural History, P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 06520-8118, telephone 
(203) 432-3752, before November 10, 2011. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary object to the Central Council of the Tlingit & 
Haida Indian Tribes may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University is 
responsible for notifying the Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida 
Indian Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: October 3, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-26179 Filed 10-7-11; 8:45 am]
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