[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 29 (Friday, February 11, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8034-8035]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-02976]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0033385; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Oklahoma-Texas Area Office, Oklahoma City, OK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation, Oklahoma-Texas Area Office 
(Reclamation), has completed an inventory of human remains, 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 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 
should submit a written request to Reclamation. If no additional 
requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains 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 should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to 
Reclamation at the address in this notice by March 14, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kate Ellison, Archeologist, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Oklahoma-Texas Area Office, 5924 NW 2nd Street, Suite 200, 
Oklahoma City, OK 73127, telephone

[[Page 8035]]

(405) 470-4816, 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 the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Oklahoma City, OK. The human remains were removed from 
Lake Thunderbird Reservoir, Cleveland 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). 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 Reclamation 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Representatives from the 
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), 
Oklahoma were also contacted but declined to consult, on the basis that 
the land from which the human remains were removed is outside of the 
Tribe's traditional territory.

History and Description of the Remains

    On July 1, 1982, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from the Little Axe Skeletal Remains Site 
(34CL210) in Cleveland County, OK. The burial was discovered by a 
visitor to Little River State Park, who noted the presence human 
remains exposed by erosion on an access road within the state park near 
Clear Bay and reported the exposed human remains at the Little Axe 
Grocery store, whereupon a store employee contacted state park 
officials. Larry Neal of the Oklahoma Archaeological Society notified 
Reclamation archeologists of the discovery on July 6, 1982. After 
consulting with the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office and the 
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, Reclamation 
archeologists removed the human remains and took them to the 
Reclamation office in Amarillo, TX. Beginning in December of 1982, the 
human remains were curated at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, St. 
Gregory College in Shawnee, OK. On May 23, 1995, the human remains were 
moved to the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton, OK, by Hector Garcia 
and placed on a one-year loan. The individual is represented by a 
nearly complete skeleton. The remains probably belong to a male 18-20 
years old. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Oklahoma-Texas Area Office

    Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Oklahoma-Texas Area Office 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(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma.

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 should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Kate 
Ellison, Archeologist, Bureau of Reclamation, Oklahoma-Texas Area 
Office, 5924 NW 2nd Street, Suite 200, Oklahoma City, OK 73127, 
telephone (405) 470-4816, email [email protected], by March 14, 2022. 
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains to the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe 
of Indians of Oklahoma may proceed.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, 
Oklahoma-Texas Area Office is responsible for notifying the Absentee-
Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: February 3, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-02976 Filed 2-10-22; 8:45 am]
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