[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 104 (Friday, May 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32417-32418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11569]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030226; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Ball State University, Department 
of Anthropology, Muncie, IN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Ball State University, Department of Anthropology 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 Ball State University, Department of 
Anthropology. 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 Ball State University, Department of Anthropology at 
the address in this notice by June 29, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Kevin C. Nolan, Ball State University, Applied Anthropology 
Laboratories, 2000 University Avenue, Muncie, IN 47306, telephone (765) 
285-5325, 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 Ball State 
University, Department of Anthropology, Muncie, IN. The human remains 
and associated funerary objects were removed from site 12-St-214 in 
Starke County, IN, an unknown location near Knox in Stark County, IN, 
and site 12-Le-22, the Alt Site, in La Porte County, IN.
    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 Ball 
State University, Department of Anthropology professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, 
Oklahoma; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; 
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Hannahville Indian Community, 
Michigan; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi 
Indians, Michigan and Indiana.
    The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Bad River Band 
of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River 
Reservation, Wisconsin: Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan; Cherokee 
Nation; Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana 
(previously listed as Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's 
Reservation, Montana); Delaware Tribe of Indians; Forest County 
Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and 
Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Kaw Nation, Oklahoma; Keweenaw Bay Indian 
Community, Michigan; Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas; Kickapoo 
Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas; Kickapoo Tribe 
of Oklahoma; Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians 
of Wisconsin; Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of 
the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin; Lac Vieux Desert Band of 
Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish 
Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, 
Minnesota (Six component reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); 
Fond du Lac Band; Grand Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; 
White Earth Band); Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan 
(previously listed as Huron Potawatomi, Inc.); Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; 
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Ponca 
Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Prairie Band 
Potawatomi Nation (previously listed as Prairie Band of Potawatomi 
Nation, Kansas); Quapaw Nation (previously listed as The Quapaw Tribe 
of Indians); Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, 
California & Arizona; Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians 
of Wisconsin; Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota; Sac & Fox 
Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; 
Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa; Saginaw Chippewa Indian 
Tribe of Michigan; Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, 
Michigan; Seneca Nation of Indians (previously listed as Seneca Nation 
of New York); Seneca-Cayuga Nation (previously listed as Seneca-Cayuga 
Tribe of Oklahoma); Shawnee Tribe; Sokaogon Chippewa Community, 
Wisconsin; St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin; The Osage Nation (previously listed as Osage 
Tribe); Tonawanda Band of Seneca (previously listed as Tonawanda Band 
of Seneca Indians of New York); Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa 
Indians of North Dakota; Tuscarora Nation; United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma; and the Wyandotte Nation were invited to 
consult but did not participate.
    Hereafter, all Tribes named in this section are referred to as 
``The Consulted and Invited Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1986, the human remains of, at minimum, one individual were 
removed from site 12-St-214 in Starke County, IN, during a Phase Ia 
pedestrian survey by Ball State University for the Michigan Precision 
Industries project. The site consisted primarily of fire-cracked rock 
(FCR), but also included lithic debitage. A total of 72 fragments of 
scattered cremated cranial and post-cranial bones belonging to an 
individual of unknown age and sex were recovered during the survey 
(catalogue #12-St-214-25). In 1996, the human remains of a second 
individual were recovered

[[Page 32418]]

from the site by Ball State University during work that included 
intensive surface collection, two test excavation units, and 11 
trenches. The human remains consist of one fragment of calcined human 
humerus (catalogue #96.31.1.1.152). A test unit excavated at the 
location of the human remains did not yield any additional cultural 
materials or human remains. In 1999, a private collector donated the 
human remains of two additional individuals to the BSU Department of 
Anthropology (accession #99.45). According to the donor, one individual 
was collected from site 12-St-214 (catalogue #99.45.1) and the other 
was collected from a site north of Knox, IN, (catalogue #99.45.2). No 
known individuals were identified. The 428 associated funerary objects 
are six bifaces, 305 pieces of lithic debitage, six cores, three 
endscrapers, two gravers, eight other chipped stone, 11 slate, 46 
bones, one drilled shell, two shell fragments, 37 sherds, and one 
mortar.
    In 1978 and 1980, the human remains of, at minimum, 18 individuals 
were collected from site 12-Le-22, the Alt Site, in La Porte County, 
IN, during investigations by the Northwest Indiana Archaeological 
Association (NWIAA) together with archeologists from the University of 
Notre Dame (1978), and by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, 
Division of Historic Preservation (1980). The human remains were 
donated to Ball State University in 1988 (accession number 88.025). 
Samples from select burials were included in an analysis of ancient DNA 
as part of a MA thesis presented to the Department of Anthropology, 
Ball State University. Five bone samples were tested in 1994 and 1995, 
but none yielded extractable DNA. No known individuals were identified. 
No associated funerary objects are present (artifacts are known to have 
been recovered during the 1978 and 1980 investigations, as well as by 
private collectors).

Determinations Made by the Ball State University, Department of 
Anthropology

    Officials of the Ball State University, Department of Anthropology 
have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on the fact that they are 
associated prehistoric artifacts and animal bone.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 22 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 428 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.
     According to final judgments of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, the land from which the 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed is the aboriginal land of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, 
Oklahoma; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Hannahville 
Indian Community, Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of 
Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the 
Potawatomi, Michigan (previously listed as Huron Potawatomi, Inc.); 
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; and the 
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (previously listed as Prairie Band of 
Potawatomi Nation, Kansas)(hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to The Tribes.

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 Kevin C. 
Nolan, Ball State University, Applied Anthropology Laboratories, 2000 
University Avenue, Muncie, IN 47306, telephone (765) 285-5325, email 
[email protected], by June 29, 2020. After that date, if no additional 
requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.
    The Ball State University, Department of Anthropology is 
responsible for notifying The Consulted and Invited Tribes that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: April 21, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-11569 Filed 5-28-20; 8:45 am]
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