[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 77 (Friday, April 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20329-20330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9762]


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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 American 
Museum of Natural History, New York, NY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

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 possession of the American Museum of Natural 
History, New York, NY.
    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

[[Page 20330]]

for the determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by American 
Museum of Natural History professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, the Seneca 
Nation of New York, and the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New 
York.
    In 1907, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were collected by Alanson B. Skinner, as part of a museum expedition, 
from Gandougarae, East Bloomfield, Ontario County, NY. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    These individuals have been identified as Native American based on 
American Museum of Natural History documentation that refers to the 
site and its inhabitants as ``Seneca.'' According to both museum 
documentation and scholarly literature, the Gandougarae site was a 
post-contact village occupied until 1671. Apparently this village was 
also called St. Michel. The manner of interment is consistent with 
post-contact Seneca practices of inhumation (in clan cemeteries).
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the American 
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 a minimum of three individuals of Native American ancestry. 
Also, officials of the American 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 the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma, 
the Seneca Nation of New York, and the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians 
of New York.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe 
of Oklahoma, the Seneca Nation of New York, and the Tonawanda Band of 
Seneca Indians of New York. Representatives of any other Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these human 
remains should contact Martha Graham, Director of Cultural Resources, 
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 
New York, NY 10024-5192, telephone (212) 769-5846, before May 21, 2001. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of 
Oklahoma, the Seneca Nation of New York, and the Tonawanda Band of 
Seneca Indians of New York may begin after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.

    Dated: March 30, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-9762 Filed 4-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F