SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the Abbe Museum, and additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

A total of two cultural items have been requested for repatriation. The two unassociated funerary objects are 17th-century glass trade beads.

The two aforementioned unassociated funerary objects were identified as such in February of 2026 during a review of the physical object records. The unassociated funerary objects were donated to the Abbe Museum by M. Moore in 1926 and were recorded in the original ledger book as recovered by Clarence W. Alley at Oak Point in Trenton, ME in 1865. A September 1, 1926 letter from Alley to Robert Abbe states: “I found the beads where [a] cart wheel had cut down into an Indian grave.”

Additional materials from this site were repatriated by the Abbe Museum in 2020 to the The Wabanaki Tribes of Maine Intertribal Repatriation Committee representing the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, Mi'kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot Nation (see Federal Register 85 FR 335, January 3, 2020).

Determinations

The Abbe Museum has determined that:

• The two unassociated funerary objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
• There is a connection between the cultural items described in this notice and the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians; Mi'kmaq Nation (previously listed as Aroostook Band of Micmacs); Passamaquoddy Tribe; and the Penobscot Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under ADDRESSES . Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.

Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August 21, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Abbe Museum must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural items are considered a single request and not competing requests. The Abbe Museum is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and to any other consulting parties.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

91 FR 46142