[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 109 (Thursday, June 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34124-34125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13468]



[[Page 34124]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-12994; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Michigan Department of 
Transportation, Van Wagoner Building, Lansing, MI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Michigan Department of Transportation has completed an 
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation 
between the human remains and associated funerary objects and any 
present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 
Representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of 
these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request to the Michigan Department of Transportation. If no 
additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice that wish to request 
transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary 
objects should submit a written request with information in support of 
the request to the Michigan Department of Transportation at the address 
in this notice by July 8, 2013.

ADDRESSES: James A. Robertson, Staff Archaeologist, Environmental 
Section, Bureau of Highway Development, Michigan Department of 
Transportation, 425 West Ottawa, P.O. Box 30150, Lansing, MI 48909, 
telephone (517) 335-2637, email [email protected].

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 under the control of the Michigan 
Department of Transportation, Lansing, MI. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from the City of Rochester, 
Oakland 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) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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 was made by the Michigan 
Department of Transportation professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan; Delaware 
Nation, Oklahoma; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Grand 
Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Hannahville 
Indian Community, Michigan; Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan; 
Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Michigan; 
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan; Little Traverse Bay 
Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of 
Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Mille Lacs Band of the Minnesota 
Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, 
Michigan (previously listed as the Huron Potawatomi, Inc.); Pokagon 
Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; Saginaw Chippewa 
Indian Tribe of Michigan; and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa 
Indians of Michigan. Information was also provided to the Burt Lake 
Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians, Michigan, a non-Federally recognized 
Indian group.
    Invitations to consultation were sent to the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe 
of Indians of Oklahoma; Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of 
Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; Bois Forte 
Band (Nett Lake) of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; Chippewa-
Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana; Citizen 
Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Fond du Lac Band of the Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribe, Minnesota; Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, 
Minnesota; Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma; Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake 
Superior Chippewa of Wisconsin; Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior 
Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin; Leech 
Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; Menominee Indian 
Tribe of Wisconsin; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation 
(previously listed as the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, Kansas); 
Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & 
Arizona; Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; 
Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota; Seneca Nation of Indians 
(previously listed as the Seneca Nation of New York); Seneca-Cayuga 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe; Sokaogon Chippewa Community, 
Wisconsin; St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Tonawanda Band of 
Seneca (previously listed as the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of 
New York); Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota; 
White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; and the 
Wyandotte Nation. A request for consultation was also sent to the Grand 
River Bands of Ottawa Indians, Michigan, a non-Federally recognized 
Indian group. Lastly, the Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribe, Minnesota, indicated that they did not wish to make a claim at 
this time and would support any tribe that may come forward.

History and Description of the Remains

    In June through August of 2012, human remains representing, at 
minimum, four individuals were removed from site 20OK42 in the City of 
Rochester, Oakland County, MI. The human remains were inadvertently 
discovered during a road reconstruction project. The recovered human 
remains include one adult (>45 years) male, one adult (>45 years) 
female, one adolescent (13-17 years) female, and one neonate. All of 
the human remains were identified as Native American by the Michigan 
State University Forensic Anthropology Laboratory (MSUFAL) via non-
invasive forensic analysis of the human remains and by the Michigan 
Department of Transportation's archaeological investigation of the 
depositional contexts of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects. No known individuals were identified. The 43 associated 
funerary objects are 28 chipped stone flakes, 2 edge-damaged flake 
tools, 1 bipolar chipped stone tool, 1 bifacial chipped stone tool, 1 
hammerstone, 4 fire-cracked rocks, 1 calcined bone fragment, 2 fish 
scales, and 3 flotation heavy fractions.

Determinations Made by the Michigan Department of Transportation

    Officials of the Michigan Department of Transportation have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice

[[Page 34125]]

are Native American based on a combination of non-invasive forensic 
analysis and archaeological investigation.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of four individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 43 objects described 
in this notice 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), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day 
Indian tribe.
     According to final judgments of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, the land from which the 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed is the aboriginal land of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of 
Michigan.
     Treaties, Acts of Congress, or Executive Orders, indicate 
that the land from which the Native American human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed is the aboriginal land of the 
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the 
Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan; 
Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake) of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; 
Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana; Citizen 
Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Fond du Lac Band of the Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribe, Minnesota; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Grand 
Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; Grand Traverse 
Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Hannahville Indian 
Community, Michigan; Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan; Lac 
Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa of Wisconsin; Lac du 
Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau 
Reservation of Wisconsin; Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior 
Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribe, Minnesota; Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan; Little 
Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish 
Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Mille Lacs Band of the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the 
Potawatomi, Michigan (previously listed as the Huron Potawatomi, Inc.); 
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan 
and Indiana; Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation (previously listed as 
the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, Kansas); Quechan Tribe of the 
Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & Arizona; Red Cliff Band of 
Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Red Lake Band of Chippewa 
Indians, Minnesota; Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan; Sault 
Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan; Sokaogon Chippewa 
Community, Wisconsin; St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Turtle 
Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota; White Earth Band of 
the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; and the Wyandotte Nation 
(hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to The Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe not identified in this notice 
that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and 
associated funerary objects should submit a written request with 
information in support of the request to James A. Robertson, Staff 
Archaeologist, Environmental Section, Bureau of Highway Development, 
Michigan Department of Transportation, 425 West Ottawa, P.O. Box 30150, 
Lansing, MI 48909, telephone (517) 335-2637, email 
[email protected], by July 8, 2013. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to The Tribes may 
proceed.
    The Michigan Department of Transportation is responsible for 
notifying The Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 2, 2013.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2013-13468 Filed 6-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P