[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 183 (Friday, September 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44454-44455]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20300]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-23967; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: The Florida Department of State, 
Division of Historical Resources, Tallahassee, FL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Florida Department of State, Division of Historical 
Resources, 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 Florida Department of State, Division of Historical 
Resources. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains to the non-federally recognized Indian 
group 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 Florida 
Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, at the address 
in this notice by October 23, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Jason O'Donoughue, Florida Department of State, Division of 
Historical Resources, The Governor John Martin House, 1001 De Soto Park 
Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32301, telephone (850) 245-6481, 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 Florida Department of State, Division of Historical 
Resources, Tallahassee, FL. The human remains were removed from a site 
in Queens County, Long Island, NY.
    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. 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 Florida 
Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, professional 
staff in consultation with the Unkechaug Indian Nation and the 
Matinecock Tribe of Long Island, both of which are non-federally 
recognized Indian groups. The Shinnecock Indian Nation was invited to 
participate but was not involved in consultations.

History and Description of the Remains

    At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from an unknown site in Long Island, Queens 
County, NY, and were subsequently donated to the Museum of Arts and 
Sciences in Daytona Beach. The Florida Department of State, Division of 
Historical Resources, assumed jurisdiction over these human remains 
pursuant to Section 872.05, Florida Statutes. The human remains were 
determined to be from a Native American individual based on the 
labeling on the mandible stating ``MATINICACK INDIN LONG ISLAND.'' The 
Matinecock are a Native American group who are historically documented 
on Long Island and connected through kinship to the other Long Island 
Nations including the Unkechaug, Shinnecock, and Montaukett. Historical 
evidence suggests that the human remains may have come from a 
Matinecock cemetery that was removed in 1931 and 1932, when Northern 
Boulevard was widened in Queens Borough, Long Island, NY. The burials 
belonging to that cemetery were reportedly relocated to another 
cemetery. Descendants of people buried in the cemetery note that some 
of the human remains and items removed during the exhumations were not 
reburied. The Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach lacked 
accession records from many of its older collections. The spelling of 
``Matinicack Indin'' on the label of the mandible suggests that the 
human remains were collected by a non-professional archeologist or 
anthropologist who, on information or belief, determined that they were 
affiliated with the Matinecock. No other provenience information is 
available. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.16, the Secretary of the Interior may 
recommend transfer of control of culturally unidentifiable human 
remains. In September 2016, the Florida Department of State, Division 
of Historical Resources, requested that the Secretary, through the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee, 
recommend the proposed transfer of control of the culturally 
unidentifiable Native American human remains in this notice to the 
Unkechaug Indian Nation, a non-federally recognized Indian group. The 
Review Committee, acting pursuant to its responsibility under 25 U.S.C. 
3006(c)(5), considered the request at its March 2017 meeting and 
recommended to the Secretary that the proposed transfer of control 
proceed. An April 2017 letter on behalf of the Secretary of Interior 
from the National Park Service Associate Director for Cultural 
Resources, Partnerships, and Science transmitted the Secretary's 
independent review and concurrence with the Review Committee that:
     No Indian Tribes or Indian groups objected to the proposed 
transfer of control, and
     the Florida Department of State, Division of Historical 
Resources, may proceed with the agreed upon transfer of control of the 
culturally unidentifiable human remains to the Unkechaug Indian Nation, 
a non-federally recognized Indian group.
    Transfer of control is contingent on the publication of a Notice of 
Inventory Completion in the Federal Register. This notice fulfills that 
requirement.

[[Page 44455]]

Determinations Made by the Florida Department of State, Division of 
Historical Resources

    Officials of the Florida Department of State, Division of 
Historical Resources, have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on contextual and historical 
information.
     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(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and any present-day Indian Tribe.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), a ``tribal land'' or 
``aboriginal land'' provenience cannot be ascertained.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.10(g)(2)(ii) and 43 CFR 10.16, the 
disposition of the human remains will be to the Unkechaug Indian 
Nation, a non-federally recognized Indian group.

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 Jason O'Donoughue, Florida Department of 
State, Division of Historical Resources, The Governor John Martin 
House, 1001 De Soto Park Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32301, telephone (850) 
245-6481, email [email protected], by October 23, 
2017. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains to the Unkechaug Indian 
Nation, a non-federally recognized Indian group, may proceed.
    The Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, 
is responsible for notifying the Shinnecock Indian Nation, the 
Unkechaug Indian Nation, and the Matinecock Tribe of Long Island that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 8, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-20300 Filed 9-21-17; 8:45 am]
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