Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item from Warren, RI in the Possession of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

Notice is hereby given under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 43 CFR 10.10 (a)(3), of the intent to repatriate a cultural item in the possession of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA that meets the definition of “unassociated funerary object” under Section 2 of the Act.

This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2 (c). The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of these cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within this notice.

The one cultural item is a small, double-layered textile fragment with copper staining.

In 1914, this cultural item was recovered from the Burr's Hill site, Warren, RI during excavations conducted by S.D. Seaman. At an unknown date, this cultural item was donated to or bought by the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA.

Burr's Hill is believed to be located on the southern border of Sowams, a Wampanoag village. Sowams is identified in historic documents of the 17th and 18th centuries as a Wampanoag village, and was ceded to the English in 1653 by Massasoit and his eldest son Wamsutta (Alexander). Based on the presence of European trade goods and types of cultural items, these cultural items have been dated to A.D. 1600-1710. A tag with this cultural item identifies it as having come from a grave at Burr's Hill. Based on this evidence, the documented survival of textiles in early contact period Wampanoag graves, and copper staining on the textile, this cultural item is most likely to have come from a burial.

Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2)(ii), this one cultural item 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 an Native American individual. Officials of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology also have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between this item and the Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation, representing the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the Mashpee Wampanoag (a non-Federally recognized Indian group), and the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation (a non-Federally recognized Indian group). This notice has been sent to officials of the Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation, representing the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, the Mashpee Wampanoag (a non-Federally recognized Indian group), and the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation (a non-Federally recognized Indian group); and the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with this object should contact James W. Bradley, Director, Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA 01810, telephone (978) 749-4490, before September 15, 2000. Repatriation of this object to the Wampanoag Repatriation Confederation, representing the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the Mashpee Wampanoag (a non-Federally recognized Indian group), and the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation (a non-Federally recognized Indian group) may begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.