[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 4, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14498-14499]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-06832]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0025140; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: West Virginia Division of Culture 
and History, Charleston, WV

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) 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 WVDCH. 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 WVDCH at the address in this notice by May 4, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Caryn Gresham, Deputy Commissioner, West Virginia Division 
of Culture and History, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston WV 
25305-0300, telephone (304) 558-0220, 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 WVDCH, Charleston, 
WV. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from 
the Buffalo Site (46PU31), Putnam County, WV.
    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 WVDCH 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Cayuga Nation; Cherokee 
Nation; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Ponca 
Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Seneca Nation of 
Indians (previously listed as the Seneca Nation of New York); Shawnee 
Tribe; The Osage Nation (previously listed as the Osage Tribe); The 
Quapaw Tribe of Indians; Tonawanda Band of Seneca (previously listed as 
the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York); Tuscarora Nation; 
and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. An 
invitation to consult was also extended to the Catawba Indian Nation 
(aka Catawba Tribe of South Carolina); Kaw Nation, Oklahoma; Miami 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Oneida Nation (previously 
listed as the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin); Oneida Indian 
Nation (previously listed as the Oneida Nation of New York; Onondaga 
Nation; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (previously listed as the St. Regis 
Band of Mohawk Indians of New York); Seneca-Cayuga Nation (previously 
listed as the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma); Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin; Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe; and Wyandotte Nation, 
hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted and Invited Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    From 1963 through 1965, human remains representing, at minimum, 
1,031 individuals were removed from the Buffalo Site, Putnam County, 
WV. Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) ``acquired the property in the 
1960s with the intention of building a plant at the site. Dr. Edward V. 
McMichael of the West Virginia Geologic and Economic Survey (WVGES) 
Archeology Office requested permission from UCC to excavate at the 
site. In 1963, a lease agreement was signed by UCC and the WVGES, 
wherein the state of West Virginia was given the right to all cultural 
items excavated at the site. From May through October 1963, Dr. 
McMichael and a crew excavated the site. In 1965, the site excavations

[[Page 14499]]

ceased. The cultural items and human remains were taken to McMichael's 
headquarters in Buffalo, WV, and later transported to the WVGES offices 
in Morgantown, WV. In 1966, State Archeologist Bettye Broyles loaned 
the human remains to James Metress at Clarion State College, PA, for 
research. Metress transferred to the University of Toledo, OH, and took 
the human remains with him. In the 1980s, the human remains were moved 
to the Anthropology Department of The Ohio State University (OSU) in 
Columbus, OH. In September 2008, some of the human remains were 
physically transferred to the Grave Creek Mound Archaeology Research 
Complex in Moundsville, WV, which is under the control of the WVDCH. 
Between November 2011 and April 2016, fourteen additional boxes of 
human remains were located at OSU and physically transferred to the 
WVDCH. No known individuals were identified. The 2,050 associated 
funerary objects include 1 lot of prehistoric ceramic sherds, 2 
partially reconstructed shell tempered pots, 1 lot of animal bone 
fragments, 13 antler tines, 2 antler tine projectile points, 1 antler 
pendant, 8 antler tools, 611 bone beads, 13 animal tooth pendants, 16 
bone awls/pins, 5 bone tools, 1 bone comb, 2 polished bone tubes, 1 elk 
rib shoulder ornament, 1 turtle shell cup, 1 bird bone flute, 1 bone 
fish hook, 11 copper wrapped beads/fragments, 1 copper tinkler, 1 
pierced worked copper fragment, 28 copper fragments, 1 glass seed bead, 
1 lot of shell fragments, 1,139 shell beads, 11 shell hoes, 17 shell 
ornaments, 12 shell pendants, 2 weeping eye mask/gorgets, 1 rattlesnake 
gorget, 26 plain shell gorgets, 2 gorgets with unidentified motif, 1 
shell maskette, 1 lot of lithic debitage, 50 projectile points, 2 
cannel coal pendants, 1 stone pipe bowl, 1 stone ``tablet,'' and 61 
hematite fragments.

Determinations Made by the West Virginia Division of Culture and 
History

    Officials of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on osteological analysis and 
archeological context.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 1,031 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 2,050 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.
     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 
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Cayuga Nation; Cherokee 
Nation; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Oneida 
Nation (previously listed as the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin); 
Oneida Indian Nation (previously listed as the Oneida Nation of New 
York); Onondaga Nation; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (previously listed as 
the St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians of New York); Seneca Nation of 
Indians (previously listed as the Seneca Nation of New York); Seneca-
Cayuga Nation (previously listed as the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of 
Oklahoma); Shawnee Tribe; Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin; 
Tonawanda Band of Seneca (previously listed as the Tonawanda Band of 
Seneca Indians of New York); Tuscarora Nation; United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma; and Wyandotte Nation, hereafter referred 
to as ``The Aboriginal Land Tribes.''
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to The Aboriginal 
Land Tribes. The Cherokee Nation, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, 
and Tonawanda Band of Seneca (previously listed as the Tonawanda Band 
of Seneca Indians of New York), have submitted statements of agreement 
to request joint disposition of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects described in this notice. Statements of support for 
the disposition were submitted by the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians 
of Oklahoma, Delaware Nation, and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

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 and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Caryn 
Gresham, Deputy Commissioner, West Virginia Division of Culture and 
History, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston WV 25305-0300, 
telephone (304) 558-0220, email [email protected], by May 4, 2018. 
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to The Aboriginal Land Tribes may proceed.
    The WVDCH is responsible for notifying The Consulted and Invited 
Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 28, 2018.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2018-06832 Filed 4-3-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P