[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 20 (Monday, February 2, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5857-5858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-2125]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Binghamton University, State 
University of New York, Binghamton, NY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

[[Page 5858]]


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 
Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY. 
The human remains were removed from the Susquehanna Valley, Delaware 
County, NY.
    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 Binghamton 
University, State University of New York professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; 
Oneida Nation of New York; Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin; Saint 
Regis Mohawk Tribe, New York (formerly the St. Regis Band of Mohawk 
Indians of New York); and Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, a non-
Federally recognized Indian group.
    In 1973, human remains representing a minimum of five individuals 
were removed from the Hoyt West site (SUBi-085) in Delaware County, NY. 
The human remains were uncovered accidentally by Lane Construction 
during construction of the Interstate-88 highway. Construction workers 
gave the human remains to archeologists who were working nearby the 
site. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Partial excavations and surface collections occurred at Hoyt West 
as part of salvage operations during the Interstate-88 construction 
project. Undiagnostic precontact artifacts (mostly lithics) and 
historic artifacts (mostly European-made ceramics) were found at the 
site. Local collectors reported finding slate pendants in the area. 
During construction, the topsoil was stripped and employees of the 
contractor found fragmented human remains. While some fire-reddened 
areas were noted by archeologists, no burial features were exposed. 
Analysis by a bioarcheologist found that some individuals had Native 
American, African, and European traits. Historical artifacts, the 
mixture of biological traits, oral history, and a Haudenosaunee map of 
aboriginal lands indicate that this site is located within a region 
that was the territory of the Mohawk during the early Historic Period. 
The human remains from the Hoyt West site are determined to be 
culturally affiliated with the present-day descendants of the Mohawk 
represented by the Akwesasne Mohawk community composed of the Saint 
Regis Mohawk Tribe, New York and Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs, a 
non-Federally recognized Indian group.
    Officials of Binghamton University have determined that, pursuant 
to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent 
the physical remains of five individuals of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of Binghamton University 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 Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, New York, and Mohawk Nation Council 
of Chiefs, a non-Federally recognized Indian group.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Nina M. 
Versaggi, Public Archaeology Facility, Binghamton University, 
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, telephone (607) 777-4786, before March 4, 
2009. Repatriation of the human remains to the Saint Regis Mohawk 
Tribe, New York, on behalf of themselves and the Mohawk Nation Council 
of Chiefs, a non-Federally recognized Indian group, may proceed after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Binghamton University is responsible for notifying the Delaware 
Nation, Oklahoma; Oneida Nation of New York; Oneida Tribe of Indians of 
Wisconsin; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, New York; and Mohawk Nation 
Council of Chiefs, a non-Federally recognized Indian group that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: December 18, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-2125 Filed 1-30-09; 8:45 am]
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