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 Yager 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 31 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. The 31 unassociated funerary objects consist of two groups of objects, a group of 15 objects and a group of 16 objects.

The group of 15 unassociated funerary objects includes one pipe bowl, one celt, one pipe, three projectile points, seven potsherds, one netsinker, and one ceramic vessel. These objects were disinterred from a known burial site in Delaware County, NY by George Swarthout, Aleck Proskin and others between 1894 and 1906 and acquired by Willard Yager sometime prior to his death in 1929. The group of 16 unassociated funerary objects includes four gorgets, five pendants, two pipes, one statue, one ceramic vessel, one potsherd, one bannerstone, and one knife. Except for one of the gorgets, which was collected by Clifford Anderson sometime prior to 1984 in Delaware County, and NY, all of these objects were collected by Willard Yager from various sources prior to 1929, and were documented as coming from Delaware County, NY, Susquehanna County, PA, Luzerne County, PA, and Bradford Counnty, PA. ( printed page 54762)

Determinations

The Yager Museum has determined that:

• The 31 unassociated funerary objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near human remains, or 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 Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin.

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 September 23, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Yager 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 Yager 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 54761