83 FR 16123 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: New York State Museum, Albany, NY

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 72 (April 13, 2018)

The New York State Museum, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request to the New York State Museum. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 72 (Friday, April 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16123-16124]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07701]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0025284: PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: New York State 
Museum, Albany, NY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The New York State Museum, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has 
determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or 
representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items 
should submit a written request to the New York State Museum. If no 
additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural 
items 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

[[Page 16124]]

identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items 
should submit a written request with information in support of the 
claim to the New York State Museum at the address in this notice by May 
14, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Lisa Anderson, New York State Museum, 3049 Cultural 
Education Center, Albany, NY 12230, telephone (518) 486-2020, 
[email protected].

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 cultural items under the 
control of the New York State Museum, Albany, NY, that meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects 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 Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    In the late nineteenth century, three cultural items were removed 
from the Brewerton cemetery site in Onondaga County, NY. They were part 
a larger collection purchased by the museum from Otis M. Bigelow in 
1914. The unassociated funerary objects are 3 pottery smoking pipes, 
including one with a side-facing bear effigy on the bowl (#31868), one 
with a ringed collar bowl (#31908), and one with a self-directed eagle 
effigy on the bowl (#31909). The pipes were illustrated by Rev. William 
M. Beauchamp in the late 19th century and described as being from a 
Native American grave. Based on the style of the pipes and other items 
reportedly found in the burial, and which are not in the museum's 
possession, the cultural items probably date to the mid- to late-
seventeenth century.
    In the late nineteenth century, four cultural items were removed 
from a site in the town of Pompey in Onondaga County, NY. The 
unassociated funerary objects are 2 rolled sheet brass tinklers, 1 
brass wire hoop, and 1 black glass button (#50096). The cultural items 
were part of a larger collection belonging to Rev. William M. Beauchamp 
and purchased by the museum in 1949 from his daughter, Mrs. Grace B. 
Lodder. Beauchamp identified the cultural items as from a grave in 
Pompey. Beauchamp described the Pompey area as the early home of the 
Onondaga, where numerous village sites date from the late pre-contact 
period through the seventeenth century. Traded by the Dutch, similar 
glass buttons have been found on early historic Onondaga sites, and 
probably date to the 17th century.
    In 1908, 506 cultural items were removed from a site near Dorwin 
Springs, Onondaga Valley, in Onondaga County, NY. The 506 unassociated 
funerary objects are a string of 26 shell beads and 480 white glass 
seed beads (#50097). The cultural items were part of a larger 
collection belonging to Rev. William M. Beauchamp and purchased by the 
museum in 1949 from his daughter, Mrs. Grace B. Lodder. Beauchamp 
identified the burial as Native American and suggested the glass beads 
may have been part of a belt. He estimated the site dated to about A.D. 
1750, a date consistent with the type of beads and other items 
reportedly found in the burial, and which are not in the museum's 
possession.

Determinations Made by the New York State Museum

    Officials of the New York State Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 513 cultural items 
described above 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.
     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 objects and the Onondaga Nation.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Lisa Anderson, New York State Museum, 3049 
Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230, telephone (518) 486-2020, 
email [email protected], by May 14, 2018. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Onondaga Nation may proceed.
    The New York State Museum is responsible for notifying the Onondaga 
Nation that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 22, 2018
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2018-07701 Filed 4-12-18; 8:45 am]
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