[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22258-22259]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08769]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0031769; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Valentine 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 Valentine 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 Valentine Museum at the address in this 
notice by May 27, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Alicia Starliper, Collection Project Manager/Registrar, The 
Valentine Museum, 1015 E Clay Street, Richmond, VA 23219, telephone 
(804) 649-0711 Ext. 329, 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 Valentine Museum, 
Richmond, VA. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from Bell Mound #2, also known as Chief's Mound, in Rockbridge 
County, VA.
    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

[[Page 22259]]

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 
Valentine Museum professional staff. The Chickahominy Indian Tribe; 
Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; Monacan Indian Nation; Nansemond Indian Nation [previously 
listed as Nansemond Indian Tribe]; Pamunkey Indian Tribe; Upper 
Mattaponi Tribe; and as well as four non-federally recognized Indian 
groups--the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe; Mattaponi Nation; 
Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia; and the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of 
Virginia--were contacted by Valentine Museum, but no in-person 
consultation was requested. Hereafter, all the above entities are 
referred to as ``The Tribes and Groups.''

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1877, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from Bell Mound #2, also known as Chief's Mound in 
Rockbridge County, VA. During regular collection inventory activities, 
the Valentine Museum staff discovered a container with the following 
exhibition label description: ``CHIEF'S MOUND On the farm of John M. 
Bell, on the Calf Pasture River, 150 yards from Bell Mound and about 4 
miles from Goshen, Virginia. Made from earth unlike the surrounding 
soil and seemingly brought from a distance. Circumference was 75 feet, 
height 5\1/4\ feet at the apex. A tree grew in the exact center. In 
digging, horizontal seams of pulverized charcoal were found at 
different levels. About 3\1/2\ feet from the center and 3\1/2\ feet 
below the top were found two perforated stones, a polished celt, a 
polishing stone (?), and a piece of zinc ore. In the center were found 
the bones of a dog, a pot containing hematite upon a sheet of mica; 
under this a clear quartz crystal; a greater mass of charcoal than any 
before met, a few charred bones, and pieces of wood. Nearby was a piece 
of worked copper and more mica. It seems apparent the entire mound was 
raised in honour of one man whose body was cremated.'' According to a 
typed transcription of a first-person account in the museum archives 
titled ``The Hero Mound of The White Cliffs,'' the human remains and 
associated funerary objects were excavated from a mound on the property 
of John Marshall Bell, Esq. (1815--1890), which was situated on the 
forks of Cow-Pasture and Calf-Pasture Rivers in Rockbridge County, VA. 
The mound was located approximately 150 yards west of the farmhouse. 
The author of the story is presumed to be Mann S. Valentine II 
(accompanied by his son Granville G. Valentine), who procured laborers 
at his expense to excavate the mound for a personal collection. The 
contents of the mound are described in detail and match the information 
provided on the exhibition label discovered during the inventory. Debra 
Gould, author of ``Bioarcheology of Virginia Burial Mounds,'' has noted 
that in August 1877, Mann S. Valentine II and his son Granville 
excavated two mounds in Rockbridge County, VA, which are known today as 
Bell Mound #1 and Bell Mound #2. According to C. G. Holland, author of 
the article ``Preceramic and Ceramic Cultural Patterns in Northwest 
Virginia,'' Chief's Mound and Bell Mound #2 are one in the same. No 
known individual was identified. The three associated funerary objects 
are one partial vessel, one clear quartz crystal, and one worked copper 
object.
    Bell Mound #2 (aka Chief's Mound) is in the same county as Hayes 
Creek Mound, another Rockbridge County site opened by the Valentine 
family (in 1901). Following the recommendation of the NAGPRA Review 
Committee and the Secretary of the Interior's concurrence, in 2000, the 
Virginia Department of Historic Resources repatriated the remains of 
105 individuals from Hayes Creek Mound to the Monacan Indian Nation, 
who at the time were not federally recognized (the Monacan Indian 
Nation gained Federal recognition in 2018). The Valentine Museum 
believes that the geographical proximity of Bell Mound #2 (aka Chief's 
Mound) to Hayes Creek Mound and the evidence of a cultural connection 
to the earlier group at Hayes Creek Mound previously presented by the 
Monacan Indian Nation demonstrate that a cultural affiliation exists 
between the Monacan Indian Nation and the earlier group at Bell Mound 
#2 (aka Chief's Mound).

Determinations Made by the Valentine Museum

    Officials of the Valentine Museum 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 three 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 Monacan 
Indian Nation.

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 Alicia Starliper, Collection Project Manager/
Registrar, The Valentine Museum, 1015 E Clay Street, Richmond, VA 
23219, telephone (804) 649-0711 Ext. 329, email 
[email protected], by May 27, 2021. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Monacan Indian 
Nation may proceed.
    The Valentine Museum is responsible for notifying The Tribes and 
Groups that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 19, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-08769 Filed 4-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P