[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 20 (Monday, February 1, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 5105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2008]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Western Michigan University, 
Anthropology Department, Kalamazoo, MI

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 the inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of Western Michigan University, Anthropology 
Department, Kalamazoo, MI. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Mackinac County, MI.
    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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Western 
Michigan University professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, 
Michigan, and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of 
Michigan.
    In 1972, human remains representing a minimum of two individuals 
were removed from the Beyer Site, Mackinac County, MI, as part of the 
St. Ignace archeological survey under the direction of Dr. James 
Fitting. The burial was encountered in a single excavation unit and 
found to be partially disturbed, most likely from agricultural plowing 
evident across the site area. The burial collection was transferred to 
Western Michigan University for curation and further analysis. Dr. 
Robert Sundick, a physical anthropologist in the Anthropology 
Department at Western Michigan University, studied the human remains. 
The three associated funerary objects are a small amount of 
unidentified animal bone, a lot of wood charcoal, and one piece of 
chipped stone debitage.
    The human remains were determined to be of Native American ancestry 
based on skeletal and dental morphology. The determination of a date 
from around 1650 C.E was based on stratigraphy, ceramic association, 
and associated trade goods, in particular local and foreign material 
gunflints. French missionary and military accounts make it clear that 
Odawa and Ojibway peoples inhabited both shores of the Straits of 
Mackinac as early as 1650; their oral histories indicate that they 
occupied this area for generations before the French arrived. In 1671, 
the Jesuits established a mission at St. Ignace and noted that many 
Odawa people lived there. During the time that the Beyer Site was 
occupied, circa 1650 C.E., the Odawa and Ojibway were the major tribes 
living in the St. Ignace area, in addition to some Huron groups. In 
1649, Huron/Wyandotte refugees fled Iroquois attacks in Ontario and 
some ultimately settled on the north side of the Straits at present-day 
St. Ignace. Although the tribal affiliation of the human remains found 
at St. Ignace is not scientifically certain, the remains are likely 
culturally affiliated with the Odawa, as they were the tribe most 
commonly reported in the area during the period in question. Cultural 
affiliation between the Beyer Site human remains and the Little 
Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan, is based on their 
historic continuity of occupation in the St. Ignace area. Although the 
Beyer Site material may relate to the Ojibway or Huron refugees, the 
NAGPRA coordinator of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of 
Michigan (modern descendants of the Ojibway) has sent Western Michigan 
University letters of support for the repatriation of the human remains 
removed from the Beyer Site to the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa 
Indians, Michigan. Consequently, the preponderance of archeological, 
historic, and consultation evidence connects the Beyer Site to the 
Odawa Indians.
    Officials of Western Michigan University 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 Western Michigan University also have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the three objects described 
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 Western Michigan 
University 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 associated 
funerary objects and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, 
Michigan.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact LouAnn Wurst, Department of Anthropology, 
Western Michigan University, 1005 Moore Hall, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, 
telephone (269) 387-2753, before March 3, 2010. Repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Little Traverse 
Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    Western Michigan University is responsible for notifying the Little 
Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan, and Ste. Marie Tribe of 
Chippewa Indians of Michigan that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 5, 2010
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-2008 Filed 1-29-10; 8:45 am]
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