[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 149 (Monday, August 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46703-46704]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16780]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030578; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Baylor University's Mayborn 
Museum Complex, (Formerly Baylor University's Strecker Museum; Formerly 
Baylor University Museum), Waco, TX

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex (formerly 
Baylor University's Strecker Museum; formerly Baylor University 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 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 Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex. 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 Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex at the 
address in this notice by September 2, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Anita L. Benedict, Baylor University's Mayborn Museum 
Complex, One Bear Place #97154, Waco, TX 76798-7154, telephone (254) 
710-4835, 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 Baylor University's 
Mayborn Museum Complex, Waco, TX. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from Madison Parish, LA.
    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 Baylor 
University's Mayborn Museum Complex professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; The Choctaw 
Nation of Oklahoma; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (hereafter referred 
to as ``The Consulted Tribes'').
    An invitation to consult was extended to the Alabama-Quassarte 
Tribal Town; Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation; Chitimacha 
Tribe of Louisiana; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of 
Cherokee Indians; Kialegee Tribal Town; Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; 
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Poarch Band of Creeks (previously 
listed as Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama); Quapaw Nation 
(previously listed as The Quapaw Tribe of Indians); Seminole Tribe of 
Florida (previously listed as Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big 
Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations)); The Chickasaw 
Nation; The Osage Nation (previously listed as Osage Tribe); The 
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; Tunica-Biloxi 
Indian Tribe; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma (hereafter referred to as ``The Invited Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    Sometime prior to 1909, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from Mound, Madison Parish, LA. Mound was named 
for an American Indian mound that stood at the original town site. In 
1909, the presumed collector, a J.M. Carter, donated this collection to 
Baylor University. J.M. Carter might be James Michelle Carter (1849-
1928), whose father was a Baylor University Trustee after the Civil 
War.
    In 2003, the human remains and associated funerary objects were 
located in a cigar box that lay under a whale skull exhibit. The human 
remains were labeled with the numbers 4047 and 4359 through 4389. 
Catalog number 4047 corresponds to an entry in the Strecker Catalog 
Book No. 3, which reads ``4047 . . .. Bones & Other Materials from 
Mound, Louisiana J.M. Carter.'' The numbers 4359 through 4389 do not 
relate to any currently known catalog. As number 4047 had been reused, 
new catalog numbers were assigned to the human remains and associated 
funerary objects. The human remains (AR 20806) include a phalange, limb 
bone, talus, calcaneus fragment, and two mandible fragments with teeth. 
No known individual was identified. The two associated funerary objects 
(AR 20849) are one lot of animal bones and one pottery sherd.

Determinations Made by Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex

    Officials of Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex have 
determined that:

[[Page 46704]]

     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on archeological context.
     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(3)(A), the two 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 other authoritative government sources, the 
land from which the Native American human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed is the aboriginal land of the Jena Band 
of Choctaw Indians; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; The Choctaw 
Nation of Oklahoma; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (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 Anita L. 
Benedict, Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex, One Bear Place 
#97154, Waco, TX 76798-7154, telephone (254) 710-4835, email 
[email protected], by September 2, 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 Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex is responsible for 
notifying The Consulted Tribes and The Invited Tribes that this notice 
has been published.

    Dated: July 6, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2020-16780 Filed 7-31-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P