[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 177 (Friday, September 11, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56273-56274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-20068]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030680; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Michigan State University, East 
Lansing, MI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Michigan State University 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 Michigan State University. 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.

[[Page 56274]]


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 Michigan State University at the address in 
this notice by October 13, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judith Stoddart, 466 W Circle Drive, 
East Lansing, MI 48824-1044, telephone (517) 432-2524, 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 Michigan State 
University, East Lansing, MI. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Arizona.
    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 Michigan 
State University professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona. The 
Ak-Chin Indian Community (previously listed as Ak Chin Indian Community 
of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona); Gila River 
Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Tohono 
O'odham Nation of Arizona; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico were invited but did not participate. Hereafter, the above 
Indian Tribes are referred to as ``The Consulted and Invited Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    On an unknown date, probably sometime in the 1920s or 1930s, human 
remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from an 
unknown location in Arizona. On October 10, 1961, the Michigan State 
University Museum took custody of these human remains and an associated 
funerary object as part of the Boudeman Collection. The donor was Mrs. 
Donna Boudeman. Her husband, Donald Boudeman, had collected in Alaska, 
Siberia, and continental North America in the 1920s and 1930s. On May 
28, 2019, the human remains were found in Michigan State University's 
Forensic Anthropology Laboratory, and in July of 2019, the association 
of a ceramic vessel with the human remains was confirmed. No known 
individual was identified. The one associated funerary object 
(2005.59.1) is a Gila crematory urn.

Determinations Made by Michigan State University

    Officials of Michigan State University have determined that:
     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 one object described 
in this notice is 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 object and the Ak-Chin 
Indian Community (previously listed as Ak Chin Indian Community of the 
Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona); Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and the Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.

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 Judith Stoddart, Associate Provost for 
University Collections and Arts Initiatives, Michigan State University, 
466 W Circle Drive, East Lansing, MI 48824-1044, telephone (517) 432-
2524, email [email protected], by October 13, 2020. After that date, if 
no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary object to The Consulted and 
Invited Tribes may proceed.
    Michigan State University is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted and Invited Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 14, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation 
Act (NAGPRA) Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-20068 Filed 9-10-20; 8:45 am]
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