[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 199 (Thursday, October 15, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62099-62100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26317]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-19369; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Michigan, Ann 
Arbor, MI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The University of Michigan has completed an inventory of human 
remains, 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 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 should submit a 
written request to the University of Michigan. If no additional 
requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains 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 should submit a written 
request with information in support of the request to the University of 
Michigan at the address in this notice by November 16, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Ben Secunda, NAGPRA Project Manager, University of 
Michigan Office of Research, 4080 Fleming Building, 503 S. Thompson 
Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340, telephone (734) 647-9085, 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 under 
the control of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. The human 
remains were removed from Ionia and Van Buren Counties, 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. 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 
University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology (UMMAA) 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Bay 
Mills Indian Community, Michigan; Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky 
Boy's Reservation, Montana; 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; 
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 
the Sault Ste.

[[Page 62100]]

Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan.
    Additional requests for consultation were sent to the 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; 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; Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior 
Chippewa Indians 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; Mille Lacs Band 
of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Prairie Band 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; Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin; St. Croix Chippewa 
Indians of Wisconsin; Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North 
Dakota; and the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, 
Minnesota.
    Hereafter, all tribes listed in this section are referred to as 
``The Invited and Consulted Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1956, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals 
were removed from the Lyons Prairie site (20IA51) in Ionia County, MI. 
An amateur archeologist collected the human remains in 1956 and donated 
them to the UMMAA in 1964. The human remains are from an adolescent and 
an adult. It is uncertain how the site was identified or excavated. 
However, records at the UMMAA indicated there were 3 mounds that had 
been leveled off, located on a ``prairie'' between Lyons and Muir, 
south of the Grand River. The human remains are dated to the Woodland 
Period (850 B.C.-A.D. 1400) based on the presumption that they were 
removed from one of the burial mounds noted in the UMMAA's records. No 
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    On an unknown date between 1939 and 1940, human remains 
representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from the Ament 
Village site (20VA01) in Van Buren County, MI. Amateur collectors found 
scattered objects that had emerged from 16 blowholes on the bank of 
School Section Lake. They reported that weathered bone was found near 
one of the blowholes. The collections were sent to the UMMAA on March 
13, 1941, for identification. On December 9, 1941, museum experts 
determined some of the bone fragments collected from the site to 
possibly be human. In 2012, UMMAA staff conducting re-inventory work 
located a box containing the cremated human remains of an adult that 
were noted as coming from the Ament Village site. These human remains 
are calcined, highly weathered, sun-bleached, and show horizontal 
cracking. No date or time period could be established for the human 
remains. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.

Determinations Made by the University of Michigan

    Officials of the University of Michigan have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on cranial morphology, dental 
traits, archeological context, and accession documentation.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of three individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     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 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 were removed is the aboriginal land of 
The Invited and Consulted Tribes.
     Treaties, Acts of Congress, or Executive Orders, indicate 
that the land from which the Native American human remains were removed 
is the aboriginal land of The Invited and Consulted Tribes.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains may be to The Invited and Consuled Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    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 should submit a written request with information 
in support of the request to Dr. Ben Secunda, NAGPRA Project Manager, 
University of Michigan Office of Research, 4080 Fleming Building, 503 
S. Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340, telephone (734) 647-9085, 
email [email protected], by November 16, 2015. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains to The Invited and Consulted Tribes may proceed.
    The University of Michigan is responsible for notifying The Invited 
and Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 22, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-26317 Filed 10-14-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P