[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 9, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8799-8800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02610]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0031412; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Boston University, Boston, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Boston 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 
Boston 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.

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 Boston University at the address in this 
notice by March 11, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Kathryn M. Mellouk, Associate Vice President for Research 
Compliance, Boston University, One Silber Way, 9th floor, Boston, MA 
02215, telephone (617) 358-4730, 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 Boston University, 
Boston, MA. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from the St. Johns River, which runs from Duval County down to 
Brevard County, FL.
    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 Boston 
University professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
the Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously listed as Seminole Tribe of 
Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa 
Reservations)).
    An invitation to consult was extended to the Miccosukee Tribe of 
Indians and The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.

History and Description of the Remains

    Sometime prior to 1936, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from the St. Johns River, which runs from Duval 
County down to Brevard County, FL. The human remains (inventory numbers 
2067, 2068, and 129) were collected or acquired by Charles Herbert 
Mitchell. In 1936, Mr. Mitchell's family donated a portion of his 
collection to Boston University. In December 2018, a long-term 
volunteer curator of the University's archeology program collections 
and two undergraduate students found the human remains and wrote a 
description of them. A year later, when one of the students heard that 
the program was reviewing all its collections, the student recovered 
the description and sent it to university faculty on January 27, 2020. 
No known individual was identified. The one associated funerary object 
is a lot of ceramic sherds (inventory numbers 2016, 2017, 2018, and 
2030).

Determinations Made by Boston University

    Officials of Boston 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, based on biological evidence.
     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

[[Page 8800]]

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 
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously 
listed as Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, 
Hollywood & Tampa Reservations)); and The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma 
(hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes''), based on oral tradition, 
archeological, geographic, and linguistic evidence.

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 Kathryn M. Mellouk, Associate Vice President 
for Research Compliance, Boston University, One Silber Way, 9th floor, 
Boston, MA 02215, telephone (617) 358-4730, email [email protected], by 
March 11, 2021. 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.
    Boston University is responsible for notifying The Tribes that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: January 21, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-02610 Filed 2-8-21; 8:45 am]
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