[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 242 (Friday, December 16, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 91191-91192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-30338]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22526; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Allen County-Fort 
Wayne Historical Society, Fort Wayne, IN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this 
notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal 
descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these 
cultural items should submit a written request to the Allen County-Fort 
Wayne Historical Society. If no additional claimants come forward, 
transfer of control of the cultural items 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 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Allen County-Fort Wayne 
Historical Society at the address in this notice by January 17, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Walter Font, Curator, Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical 
Society, 302 East Berry Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802, telephone 260-
426-2882, 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society that meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item(s)

    In 1912, 76 cultural items were removed from the Miami Chief Little 
Turtle (Mishikinakaw, 1747-1812) grave in Fort Wayne, Allen County, IN. 
The objects were excavated at 634 Lawton Place in Fort Wayne, IN, 
during the construction of a house for George W. Gillie in 1912. Jacob 
M. Stouder, a local collector, acquired many, but not all, of the 
objects discovered during the excavations. Most of the objects were 
acquired by the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society in the 1930s 
from the J.M. Stouder family, from Mrs. George Gillie (7 items), and 
E.L. Dotson (3 items). Three objects were donated by George Carey in 
1962. The objects were acquired by purchase, donation and loans with 
each source saying the objects were from the Lawton Place site. The 76 
unassociated funerary objects, are 8 Armband/armband fragments; 1 axe 
head; 3 beads; 2 beads, string of; 1 razor blade; 2 bracelets; 9 
brooch/brooch fragments; 1 buckle/leather remnants; 1 bullet mold; 3 
buttons; 1 earring; 1 flintlock; 1 flint & steel; 3 gorgets; 1 gun 
stock fragment; 2 kettles, copper; 1 kettle, iron; 6 knife/knife 
blades; 3 iron nails; 2 musket barrels; 1 pewter cup; 1 pewter flask; 1 
pigment jar; 1 pipe; 2 pocketknife fragments; 2 ramrod guides; 1 
scissors; 7 silver crosses; 1 silver necklace; 2 spoons; 2 spurs; 1 
sword; 1 tomahawk; and 1 trigger guard.
    Jacob M. Stouder's research led him to believe that the site of 
Little Turtle's grave had been found. A contemporary historian, Calvin 
M. Young, supported Stouder's observations. The objects were 
appropriate to Little Turtle's stature as a great chief and they 
reasoned that the sword and peace medal found in the grave gave weight 
to their conclusion. Except for a few items (ceramic, stone, or 
miscellaneous remnants), the funeral-related artifacts are trade items 
of French, British or American manufacture. Most were made in the late-
eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. Stouder's research included 
interviews with old-time residents in the area and published sources 
available to him at the time. A review of his research and research 
using additional sources (fourteen altogether) has not negated 
Stouder's findings, that the objects he collected were from grave of 
Little Turtle. On June 12, 1960, the Historical Society dedicated a 
small park along with a memorial plaque at the Lawton Place burial 
site. An inventory and detailed historical assessment was submitted for 
review and consultation to representatives of Little Turtle's lineal 
descendants, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, Miami, Oklahoma and the 
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Dowagiac, Michigan. Allen County-
Fort Wayne Historical Society staff and the consultants agreed that the 
objects found at Lawton Place in 1912 were from Little Turtle's burial.

Determinations Made by the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society

    Officials of the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 76 cultural items 
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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects and lineal descendants of Chief Little 
Turtle. They include families represented by Daryl Baldwin, Oxford, OH, 
and John Froman, Miami, OK, whose confirmed genealogies are on file at 
the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Walter Font, Curator, Allen County-Fort

[[Page 91192]]

Wayne Historical Society, 302 East Berry Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802, 
telephone 260-426-2882, email [email protected], by January 17, 2017. 
After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer 
of control of the unassociated funerary objects to the lineal 
descendants of Little Turtle represented by Daryl Baldwin and John 
Froman may proceed.
    The Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society is responsible for 
notifying the lineal descendants, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the 
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 6, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-30338 Filed 12-15-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P