[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57852-57853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22743]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0032770; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex (formerly Baylor 
University's Strecker Museum; formerly Baylor University Museum) has 
completed an inventory of human remains 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 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 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 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 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 
November 18, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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 under 
the control of Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex, Waco, TX. 
The human remains are reasonably believed to have been removed from or 
near Fort Cobb, Caddo County, OK.
    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. 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 Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma; Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware 
Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Kiowa Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; The Osage Nation [previously listed as Osage Tribe]; Tonkawa 
Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, 
Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), Oklahoma; and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo 
[previously listed as Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo of Texas]. In addition, an 
invitation to consult was extended to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of 
Texas [previously listed as Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas]; 
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Cherokee 
Nation; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma [previously listed as 
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma]; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; 
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New 
Mexico; Kialegee Tribal Town; Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas; 
Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas; 
Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero 
Reservation, New Mexico; Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; Mississippi Band 
of Choctaw Indians; Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming [previously listed as Arapaho Tribe of the Wind 
River Reservation, Wyoming]; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Poarch Band of Creek Indians 
[previously known as the Poarch Band of Creeks and as the Poarch Band 
of Creek Indians of Alabama]; Quapaw Nation [previously listed as The 
Quapaw Tribe of Indians]; San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos 
Reservation, Arizona; Seminole Tribe of Florida [previously listed as 
Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood, & 
Tampa Reservations)]; Shawnee Tribe; The Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw 
Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Seminole Nation of 
Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona; 
Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe; United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians 
in Oklahoma; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache 
Reservation, Arizona; and the Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde 
Indian Reservation, Arizona, but they did not participate. The Tribes 
identified in this section are hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted 
and Notified Indian Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    On October 23-24, 1862, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from or near Fort Cobb, Caddo County, OK. 
Sometime after 1927, the left hand of the individual was donated to the 
Texas Collection at Baylor University by Mr. Clint Padgitt. In 1989, 
the human remains were transferred from the Texas Collection to the 
Strecker Museum. No associated funerary objects are present.
    The individual (AR 20799) was purported to have been killed by 
Chief Placido of the Tonkawa, during what is known as the Tonkawa 
Massacre. Stories and newspaper accounts about the hand relate that 
Chief Placido of the Tonkawa killed Chief Black Foot (or Black Hawk) of 
the Comanche in a knife fight, during which Chief Placido was also 
wounded and later died of his wounds. After the fight, Chief Placido 
proceeded to cut off Chief Black Foot's (or Black Hawk's) left hand and 
sent it to his friend Captain Ross in Texas. The Padgitt family 
acquired the hand when Mr. Clint Padgitt's father, Mr. Tom Padgitt, 
married Captain Ross' daughter.
    On June 15, 2018, the Comanche Nation informed Baylor University's 
Mayborn Museum Complex that after extensive research, ``Chief Black 
Foot'' is not known to the Comanche Nation. In December of 2020, the 
name Chief Black Hawk came to light. On February 9, 2021, the Comanche 
Nation informed Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex that after 
extensive research,

[[Page 57853]]

``Chief Black Hawk'' is not known to the Comanche Nation. On June 24, 
2021, after reviewing new information uncovered by the Museum about the 
Tonkawa Massacre and information the Comanche Nation acquired from the 
Smithsonian Institution, the Comanche Nation informed the Museum that 
the Nation could find no evidence to support a finding that the 
individual is Comanche. Consequently, the tribal affiliation of the 
individual is unknown. Moreover, Delaware, Caddo, Comanche, Kiowa, and 
Shawnee individuals were reported to have been present on October 23-
24, 1862 (although there are conflicting accounts).

Determinations Made by Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex

    Officials of Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on museum records, including 
stories and newspaper accounts.
     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(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and any present-day Indian Tribe.
     Treaties, Acts of Congress, or Executive Orders, indicate 
that the land from which the Native American human remains were removed 
is the aboriginal land of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma 
[previously listed as Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma]; Comanche 
Nation, Oklahoma; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Kiowa Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Northern Arapaho Tribe 
of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming [previously listed as Arapaho 
Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming]; Northern Cheyenne Tribe 
of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Quapaw Nation 
[previously listed as The Quapaw Tribe of Indians]; The Chickasaw 
Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma; and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco 
& Tawakonie), Oklahoma (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains 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 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 November 
18, 2021. After that date, if no additional requestors have come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains to The Tribes may 
proceed.
    Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex is responsible for 
notifying The Consulted and Notified Indian Tribes that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: October 6, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-22743 Filed 10-18-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P