[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11678-11679]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-03632]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-12187;2200-1100-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand 
Rapids, MI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Grand Rapids Public Museum has completed an inventory of 
human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and a present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains 
and associated funerary objects may contact the Grand Rapids Public 
Museum. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Indian tribe stated below may occur if no additional 
claimants come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact the Grand Rapids Public Museum at the address 
below by March 21, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Marilyn Merdzinski, Director of Education & Interpretation, 
Grand Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW., Grand Rapids, MI 49501, 
telephone (616) 929-1801.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 and 
associated funerary objects in the possession of the Grand Rapids 
Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from an unknown location in northern 
Tennessee.
    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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by the Grand Rapids Public Museum professional staff 
in consultation with representatives of the Chickasaw Nation, the 
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. By letter to the Grand Rapids Public 
Museum in 2010, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma deferred to any other 
tribe who may claim cultural affiliation.

History and Description of the Remains

    At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from an unknown location in northern Tennessee. 
At an unknown date, the human remains and associated funerary objects 
were acquired by Dr. Ruth Herrick from an unknown individual. In 1974, 
the human remains and associated funerary objects were donated to the 
Grand Rapids Public Museum by bequest. No known individuals were 
identified. The 12 associated funerary objects are: 1 bark bundle, 1 
lot of glass fragments, 1 polished stone, 1 sandstone artifact, 1 stone 
with red ocher adhering, 1 musket fragment, 1 lot of gun flints, 1 lot 
of musket balls, 1 metallic mineral, 1 lot of silver pins, 1 lot of 
textile fragments, and 1 lot of copper pendants, beads, glass, and 
buttons.
    The determination to affiliate these human remains and associated 
funerary objects with the Chickasaw group is based on the following 
categories of evidence: geographical, ethnohistorical, archaeological, 
anthropological, oral traditions, historical, and collections 
documentation at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. Museum documentation 
indicates that the burial is Chickasaw and the associated funerary 
objects date the burial to sometime between the 17th and 19th centuries 
of the historic period. The Chickasaw tribe, today represented by the 
Chickasaw Nation, is known to have had an historic period presence in 
the area where the human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed.

[[Page 11679]]

Determinations Made by the Grand Rapids Public Museum

    Officials of the Grand Rapids Public Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 12 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.
     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 
Chickasaw Nation.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Marilyn Merdzinski, Director of Education & 
Interpretation, Grand Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW., Grand 
Rapids, MI 49501, telephone (616) 929-1801, before March 21, 2013. 
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to 
the Chickasaw Nation may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Grand Rapids Public Museum is responsible for notifying the 
Chickasaw Nation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: January 25, 2013.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2013-03632 Filed 2-15-13; 8:45 am]
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