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 Princeton University Art 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 one cultural item has been requested for repatriation. The one unassociated funerary object is a red-on-buff ceramic vessel in the form of a human head, that was excavated at the Big Eddy Site in St. Francis County, Arkansas in 1970. The archaeological context of the vessel is described by excavator Janine Fentiman in a 1981 publication: “The burial in question was located about 2 1/2 feet below the ground surface. . . . On the right side of [human remains] was a red exterior bowl. . . . Under this pot was the head pot.” The object was purchased from Atlantic Art Partners, sourced from an undisclosed art collection, by Princeton University Art Museum in 2013.

Princeton University Art Museum has no knowledge of the presence of any potentially hazardous substances used to treat the object.

Determinations

The Princeton University Art Museum has determined that:

• The one unassociated funerary object described in this notice is reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near human remains, and is 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 object has 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 item described in this notice and the Quapaw Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 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 item in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after September 23, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Princeton University Art Museum must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural item are considered a single request and not competing requests. The Princeton University Art 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 54750