[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 141 (Friday, July 21, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45398-45399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18464]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects From Cass County, IN in the Possession 
of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, Indianapolis, IN

AGENCY: National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects from Cass County, IN in the possession of the Indiana 
State Museum and Historic Sites, Indianapolis, IN.
    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 Native 
American human remains and/or associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within this 
notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Indiana 
State Museum and Historic Sites professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.
    Prior to 1932, human remains representing one individual were 
recovered from a burial near the town of Walton, Cass County, IN by 
Noah F. Surface, who donated these human remains to the Indiana State 
Museum. No known individual was identified. The two associated funerary 
objects include a pewter pan and a suede leather hair bow with silver 
discs.
    Based on associated funerary objects and skeletal morphology, this

[[Page 45399]]

individual has been identified as Native American from the historic 
period, most likely to the first half of the 19th century. Because the 
hair bow is typical of the style worn by Miami women during the first 
half of the 19th century and skeletal morphology, this individual has 
been identified as an adolescent Miami woman. The burial location, five 
miles south of the Wabash River, is in an area intensively occupied by 
the Miami between A.D. 1795-1840.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Indiana 
State Museum and Historic Sites have determined that, pursuant to 43 
CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical 
remains of one individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the 
Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites have also determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), the two objects listed 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. Lastly, officials of the Indiana State Museum and Historic 
Sites have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a 
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced 
between these Native American human remains and associated funerary 
objects and the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Miami Tribe of 
Oklahoma. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes 
itself to be culturally affiliated with these human remains and 
associated funerary objects should contact Bill Wepler, Curator of 
Anthropology, Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, 202 North 
Alabama Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204, telephone (317) 232-8178, 
before August 21, 2000. Repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma may begin 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: June 15, 2000.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 00-18464 Filed 7-20-00; 8:45 am]
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