[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58102-58103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24795]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the Florida Museum
of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
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 in the Florida Museum of Natural History, University
of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
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 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 the Florida
Museum of Natural History professional staff in consultation with
representatives of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress,
Brighton, Hollywood, and Tampa Reservations; Seminole Nation of
Oklahoma; and Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.
Between 1914 and 1928, human remains representing one individual
were removed from an above-ground grave box in southern Florida by Dr.
A. J. Colborn of Connellsville, PA. In 1928, Dr. Colborn sent the
remains to Rev. M. Herbert Burk in Valley Forge, PA. In 1953, an
unknown person gave the remains to John Witthoft at the Pennsylvania
State Museum. In July 1953, Mr. Witthoft wrote John Griffin,
archeologist with the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials,
who arranged for the remains to be placed in the collections of the
Florida Museum of Natural History. No associated funerary objects are
present.
A February 14, 1928 letter from Dr. Colborn to Rev. Burk identifies
the human remains as those of Mammy Trot, a Seminole or Miccosukee
woman. A card attached to the letter states that Mammy Trot was a
Seminole Indian born in 1806 at Fort Lauderdale and died in 1914 at age
108. To date, consultation with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida has not identified a lineal
descendent.
In 1949, human remains representing one individual were excavated
from a Spanish-Indian site (8AL66) in Alachua County, FL, by John M.
Goggin, an archeologist in the Department of Anthropology at the
University of Florida. The shallow grave, containing the remains, had
been exposed in a road cut through the site. In 1971, the remains and
associated funerary objects were transferred from the University of
Florida to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No known individuals
were identified. A minimum of 329 associated funerary objects includes
a brass kettle, tools, gun parts, an iron tomahawk, knifes, lead shot,
a mirror, brass buckles, a silver brooch or bangle, needle fragments,
copper rings, coils of copper wire, and fragments of iron.
Based on osteological information, historical information about the
Seminole Tribe of Florida, and material culture found with the
interment, the individual has been determined to be Native American.
The remains were determined to be those of a mature adult Seminole
Indian male interred between A.D. 1750-1800. Historical evidence
indicates that when settling northern Florida, Seminole peoples often
re-occupied Spanish-Indian mission locations and Spanish hacienda
locations abandoned between A.D. 1702-1710.
In 1949, human remains representing one individual were excavated
from a Spanish-Indian site (8AL67) in Alachua County, FL by John M.
Goggin's field team. In 1971, the remains were transferred from the
University of Florida to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
Based on reported material culture found with the interment, and
the intrusive nature of the burial, the individual has been determined
to be Native American. The remains were determined to be those of a
Seminole Indian interred between A.D. 1750-1800. Historical evidence
indicates that when settling northern Florida, Seminole peoples often
reoccupied Spanish-Indian mission locations and Spanish hacienda
locations abandoned between A.D. 1702-1710.
In 1954, human remains representing one individual were excavated
from the Graham site 8DA82, a pre-Columbian Glades midden site in Dade
County, FL, by D.D. Laxson. Laxson found the burial in the root system
and lower trunk of a large ficus tree. The individual had been buried
in a hollow portion of the tree. In 1954, Laxson donated the human
remains to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No known individuals
were identified. The 32 associated funerary objects includes rifle
parts and hardware; brass, lead, and copper scrap; a shot mold; a brass
ladle; knife fragments; brass buttons; a circular hand mirror;
fragments of clay pipe; ear bangles; bone points (presumably); bone
buttons; a shark's tooth; a copper tack; and a brass rivet.
Based on material culture found with the interment, the individual
has been determined to be Native American. The remains were determined
to be those of a Seminole Indian interred between A.D. 1840-1850.
In 1958, human remains representing one individual were collected
from the ``Everglades Management Area'' by Bill Rabenau and Phillip
Lloyd of Davie, FL. Circumstances surrounding the recovery of the
remains are unknown. Messrs. Rabenau and Lloyd gave the remains to
Charles Loveless of the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission in
Fort Lauderdale, FL at an unknown date. In 1959, Mr. Loveless donated
the remains to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No known
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
The accession card for the remains reads ``said to be of an Indian
squaw about 35 years old and to have died of rickets about a hundred
years ago.''
In 1957, human remains representing one individual were excavated
from a disturbed burial in the Lehigh-Portland site 8DA93, in Dade
County, FL, by D.D. Laxson. In the upper level of the site, Mr. Laxson
found a disturbed interment of what he interpreted as two individuals.
Subsequent examination indicated one individual. In 1957, Mr. Laxson
donated the remains to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No known
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
Based on material culture found at site 8DA93, the individual has
been determined to be Native American. The remains were determined to
be those of
[[Page 58103]]
an adult Seminole Indian. The artifacts recovered during excavations of
the site dated to the Glades II and III period (A.D. 750-1200), the
Spanish colonial period and the 19th century. Interment may be from the
period of the site's Seminole occupation from the Glades periods, which
was later disturbed and scattered.
Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Florida
Museum of Natural History have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2
(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical remains
of six individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the
Florida Museum of Natural History also have determined that, pursuant
to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), the 361 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 Florida Museum of Natural History 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
Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood, and
Tampa Reservations; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and Miccosukee Tribe
of Indians of Florida. This notice has been sent to officials of the
Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood, and
Tampa Reservations; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and Miccosukee Tribe
of Indians of Florida. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these human remains
and associated funerary objects should contact Jerald Milanich,
Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History, Museum Road, University of
Florida, Gainesville, FL, telephone (352) 392-6791, before October 27,
2000. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton,
Hollywood, and Tampa Reservations; Seminole Nation of Florida; and
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida may begin after that date if no
additional claimants come forward.
Dated: August 22, 2000.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 00-24795 Filed 9-26-00; 8:45 am]
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