[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 60 (Thursday, March 28, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11825-11826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-05997]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0027395; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: The Field Museum of Natural 
History, Chicago, IL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Field Museum 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 
Field Museum. 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 Field Museum at the address in this 
notice by April 29, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Helen Robbins, The Field Museum, 1400 S Lakeshore Drive, 
Chicago, IL 60605, telephone (312) 655-7317, 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 Field Museum, 
Chicago, IL. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from Mercer County, NJ.
    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 Field 
Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the 
Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1892, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from Trench 11 at Rowan Farm in Mercer County, NJ. The 
human remains were excavated by Ernest Volk as part of Volk's work for 
the World's Columbian Exposition. The Field Museum acquired the human 
remains in October 1893. The individuals removed from Trench 11, Grave 
6 include an adult of unknown sex represented by partial cranial and 
post-cranial elements, as well as one adult of unknown sex represented 
by fragmentary cranial remains, found together with an individual of 
unknown age or sex represented only by a temporal bone. No known 
individuals were identified. The five associated funerary objects, 
found in Trench 11, Grave 6 are one non-diagnostic pot sherd and four 
culturally unmodified objects.
    The site where these three individuals were found lies adjacent to 
a later excavation performed by Dorothy Cross. Volk's original 
excavation notes and the diagnostic stratigraphy of the site produced 
by Cross allowed for the dating of these individuals to the Late 
Woodland or historic period. These human remains were determined to be 
Native American based on their archeological context and collection 
history. Geographical, kinship, archeological, anthropological, 
historical, linguistic, and oral traditional evidence shows that the 
Late Woodland period group at the Rowan Farm site is affiliated with 
the present-day Delaware Tribes, who are represented by the Delaware 
Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin.

Determinations Made by the Field Museum

    Officials of the Field Museum have determined that:
     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.

[[Page 11826]]

     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the five 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 Delaware 
Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin.

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 Helen Robbins, The Field Museum, 1400 S 
Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, telephone (312) 655-7317, email 
[email protected], by April 29, 2019. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Delaware Nation, 
Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin may proceed.
    The Field Museum is responsible for notifying the Delaware Nation, 
Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 25, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-05997 Filed 3-27-19; 8:45 am]
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