[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 7, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 5742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1949]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Springfield Science Museum, 
Springfield, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains in the possession of the 
Springfield Science Museum, Springfield, MA. The human remains were 
removed from Mississippi County, AR.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Springfield 
Science Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed by an unknown individual from the Central 
Mississippi River Valley of Arkansas. The human remains were donated to 
the museum by an unknown individual at an unknown date. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from Nodena Mound (3MS3 or 3MS4), Mississippi 
County, AR, by an unknown individual. In the 1960s, the human remains 
were donated to the museum by Herman Elston. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Based on the skeletal and dental morphology, the human remains have 
been identified as Native American. The Quapaw Tribe, prior to European 
contact and in the Historic period, resided along both sides of the 
Mississippi River until an epidemic swept through their villages in the 
latter part of the 17th century. The Quapaw consolidated their villages 
on the western side of the Mississippi River near the confluence of the 
White and Arkansas Rivers. The Quapaw maintained a presence in the 
Central Mississippi Valley until the tribe's removal to northwest 
Louisiana in 1824 when all of their land in the Territory of Arkansas 
was ceded to the United States. Present-day descendants of the Quapaw 
people are members of the Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma.
    Officials of the Springfield Science Museum have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S. C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of two individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Springfield Science Museum also have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a 
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced 
between the Native American human remains and the Quapaw Tribe of 
Indians, Oklahoma.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact David 
Stier, Director, Springfield Science Museum, 220 State Street, 
Springfield, MA 01103, (413) 263-6800, ext. 321, before March 9, 2007. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Quapaw Tribe of Indians, 
Oklahoma may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The Springfield Science Museum is responsible for notifying the 
Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 28, 2006.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-1949 Filed 2-6-07; 8:45 am]
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