[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 238 (Friday, December 11, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77004-77005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-31316]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-19770; PCU00RP14.R50000-PPWOCRDN0]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs 
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 a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal 
descendants or 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 Bureau of Indian 
Affairs. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control 
of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal 
descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in 
this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or 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 Bureau of Indian Affairs at the address 
in this notice by January 11, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Anna Pardo, Museum Program Manager/NAGPRA Coordinator, U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 12220 Sunrise 
Valley Drive, Room 6084, Reston, VA 20191, telephone (703) 390-6343, 
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 U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the 
physical custody of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 
Harvard University (Peabody Museum), Cambridge, MA. The human remains 
and associated funerary objects were removed from Burns Township, 
Shiawassee 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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs professional staff 
in consultation with representatives of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian 
Tribe of Michigan.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1915, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals 
were

[[Page 77005]]

removed from a site three miles northwest of Byron, Burns Township, 
Shiawassee County, MI. The human remains were removed by Arthur W. 
Carpenter as part of a Peabody Museum expedition to investigate the 
historic Ojibwe Reservation of Keetchewaundaugnink. Mr. Carpenter 
donated these human remains--one of an adult male and the other of a 
child of indeterminate sex--to the Peabody Museum in 1915. No known 
individuals were identified. The three associated funerary objects are 
a porcupine skull and mandible, a faunal remain, and a wood fragment.
    Peabody Museum records describe the site three miles northwest of 
Byron, MI, as ``Mound 1'' and ``Ojibwa Historic Burial Site, 
Keetchewaundaugnink Reservation.'' The reservation encompasses a 
village site of the same name that was established circa 1810. The 
reservation itself was established by the Treaty of Saginaw in 
September 1819, and ceded in 1837 after a small pox epidemic. The 
presence of mounds and graves near the Keetchewaundaugnink village site 
are known from historic accounts. An early written history of 
Shiawassee County indicates that a large cemetery was known to be 
associated with the Keetchewaundaugnink village. Consultation with 
representatives of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan 
indicates that the Keetchewaundaugnink Reservation was an early 
reservation of the Saginaw Chippewa in the historic period.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs

    Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the three 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), 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 Saginaw 
Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or 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 Anna Pardo, Museum Program Manager/NAGPRA 
Coordinator, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
12220 Sunrise Valley Drive, Room 6084, Reston, VA 20191, telephone 
(703) 390-6343, email [email protected], by January 11, 2016. After 
that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan may proceed.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs is 
responsible for notifying the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 12, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-31316 Filed 12-10-15; 8:45 am]
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