[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 177 (Thursday, September 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 57837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-23135]


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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 Field Museum 
of Natural History, Chicago, IL

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 Field Museum of Natural 
History, Chicago, IL.
    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 Field Museum 
of Natural History professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin.
    In 1891, human remains representing four individuals were collected 
by F.M. Noe, a dealer in Indianapolis, IN. These human remains were 
later purchased by Franz Boas, who sold them to the Field Museum of 
Natural History in 1894. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    According to F.M. Noe's notes, these human remains were recovered 
from a gravel bank in Muncie, IN, and were identified as ``Muncie 
Indians.''
    The Munsee tribe that lived in the Lower Hudson River valley of New 
York at the time of its colonization by Europeans was known as the 
``Minsis''. The name is subject to many different spellings in 
historical documents; the most commonly used at this time is 
``Munsee''. The territory of the Munsee tribe extended from the 
Catskill Mountains to the head of the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers, 
bounded on the west by the Hudson. After European contact, the Munsee 
were forced west, and spent a relatively short time in Indiana; it is 
from the name of the tribe that the town of Muncie gets its name. The 
tribe eventually settled with the Stockbridge Mohicans in Wisconsin. 
The present-day tribe most closely affiliated with the Munsee is the 
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Field 
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 four individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Field 
Museum of Natural History 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 these Native American human remains and 
associated funerary objects and the Stockbridge Munsee Community, 
Wisconsin.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Absentee-Shawnee 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe 
of Indians, Oklahoma; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Eastern Shawnee Tribe 
of Oklahoma; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; 
Hannahaville Indian Community, Michigan; Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of 
Texas; Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas; 
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Pokagon Band of 
Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; Prairie Band of Potawatomi 
Nation, Kansas; Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin; and Wyandotte 
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 Jonathan Haas, MacArthur 
Curator of North American Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural 
History, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, telephone 
(312) 665-7829, before October 15, 2002. Repatriation of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin may begin after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.

    Dated: July 22, 2002.
C. Timothy McKeown,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-23135 Filed 9-11-02; 8:45 am]
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