[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 96 (Wednesday, May 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30261-30263]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-10645]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0033920; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Indiana State Museum and Historic 
Site Corporation, State of Indiana, Indianapolis, IN

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation 
(ISMHS) 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 ISMHS. 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 ISMHS at 
the address in this notice by June 17, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michele Greenan, Indiana State Museum 
and Historic Sites Corporation, 650 West Washington Street, 
Indianapolis, IN 46214, telephone (317) 473-0836, 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 Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation, 
Indianapolis, IN. The human remains were removed from Harrison County, 
Floyd County, and Spencer County, IN.
    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 ISMHS 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Delaware Nation, 
Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; and the 
Shawnee Tribe (hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    In February of 1992, following a report of looting, human remains 
representing, at a minimum, one individual were collected by staff of 
the Indiana Department of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA) 
from an area identified as being part of

[[Page 30262]]

the Overflow Pond Site (12Hr12), in Harrison County, IN (DHPA 
accidental discovery #920001). In 2018, these human remains were re-
discovered during an intensive inventory of collections housed at DHPA. 
The labels on the bag indicating site #12Hr12 and ``east hole'' likely 
reference a looter's pit. No other documentation for these human 
remains has been located. Following this re-discovery, DHPA research 
staff completed an inventory and transferred the human remains to ISMHS 
in May 2018. The human remains, consisting of only one bone (a prox. 
left 5th metatarsal), render age, sex, or possible pathology 
impossible. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    More recent work at 12Hr12 has identified it as an occupation site 
whose primary occupations occurred during the late Middle Archaic and 
Late Archaic periods (roughly 5000-1000 B.C.). The presence of 
extensive shell midden deposits and artifact assemblages, which include 
diagnostic point types and engraved bone pin fragments, point toward 
heavy use of the site during this time. Based on the archeological 
information from 12Hr12, the human remains of this individual belong 
within those Archaic occupations.
    Archeological and historical information shows that the present-day 
Shawnee and their ancestral groups have a long history in Southern 
Indiana and the Ohio River Valley. Archeological information evidences 
a strong relationship between these Shawnee ancestral groups and 
Mississippian communities known as Fort Ancient, while historical 
information from the 17th through 19th centuries indicate intense 
Shawnee settlement along the Ohio River Valley throughout Ohio and 
Indiana. Based on this information, a relationship of shared group 
identify can be reasonably traced between the Native American group to 
which these human remains belonged and the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of 
Indians of Oklahoma; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; and the Shawnee 
Tribe (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').
    Sometime prior to March 24, 2012, human remains representing, at 
minimum, one individual were removed from an area along the Ohio River 
bordering Harrison and Floyd Counties, IN. On March 24, 2012, Indiana 
Conservation officers approached a man who was seen kneeling along the 
shoreline of the Ohio River. He had with him a kneeling pad, a trowel, 
and a duffle bag. Caesar's Riverboat Casino, who owned the land where 
this incident occurred, told the officers that it had not granted the 
man permission to dig on the land. Following further discussions, the 
man consented to a search of his apartment. There, the officers located 
small bags and boxes containing pieces of stone, bone, and antler, as 
well as a small wooden box containing a note that indicated human 
remains might be present among the bones. The case was assigned 
Incident Report # INV-12-00076. While the localities where the above 
materials were removed cannot be determined with exactitude, interviews 
with the suspect revealed that the provenience of the human remains is 
an area along the Ohio River around the Harrison County/Floyd County 
border.
    On June 18, 2012, Indiana Conservation officers took the human 
remains to the University of Indianapolis for assessment and to 
determine ancestry. University of Indianapolis researchers determined 
that four of the bone fragments were indeed human, and that most likely 
they were Native American. One of the bone fragments is a distal right 
humerus and the other three comprise a single proximal right femur. The 
bones were identified as belonging to an adult, but no determination of 
sex or possible pathology could be made. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. On December 12, 
2013, the human remains were transferred to ISMHS.
    On December 13, 1999, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from an area that is most likely part of the 
Kramer site (12Sp7) in Spencer County, IN. The human remains were 
collected on-site by staff from the Indiana Department of Historic 
Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA) and the Division of Forestry (DHPA 
accidental discovery #200012). In 2017-2018, these human remains were 
re-discovered during an intensive inventory of collections housed at 
DHPA. The label on the bag identified their provenience as 12SP7 and 
that they came from the northeast side of a ``grassy mound.'' Following 
their re-discovery, DHPA research staff completed an inventory of these 
human remains and in May of 2018, transferred them to ISMHS. Three bone 
fragments are present--a right humerus fragment and two clavicle 
fragments (right and left sides). Given the fragmentary nature of the 
human remains, sex and age could not be determined. No known individual 
was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Site 12SP7 is known as Kramer or Kramer Mound, a known shell-midden 
site--``mound'' references shell deposits--that has been subject to 
heavy looting in the past. Archeologically, the primary occupation of 
Kramer Mound spanned the later part of the Middle Archaic period 
through the Late/Terminal Archaic periods (roughly 5000-1000 B.C.), 
based on the presence of dense shell-middens combined with artifact 
types, including bone pins and concentrations of diagnostic points. 
This timeframe is further corroborated by two calibrated Carbon-14 
dates of 4220 B.C. and 3760 B.C. Accordingly, the human remains from 
12SP7 most likely belong to these Late-Middle Archaic through Late-
Terminal Archaic occupations.
    Archeological and historical information shows that the present-day 
Shawnee and their ancestral groups have a long history in Southern 
Indiana and the Ohio River Valley. Archeological information evidences 
a strong relationship between these Shawnee ancestral groups and 
Mississippian communities known as Fort Ancient, while historical 
information from the 17th through 19th centuries indicate intense 
Shawnee settlement along the Ohio River Valley throughout Ohio and 
Indiana. Based on this information, a relationship of shared group 
identify can be reasonably traced between the Native American group to 
which these human remains belonged and The Tribes.

Determinations Made by the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites 
Corporation

    Officials of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites 
Corporation have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of three individuals 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 Tribes.

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 Michele 
Greenan, Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites Corporation, 650 West 
Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46214, telephone (317) 473-0836, 
email [email protected], by June 17, 2022. After that date, if 
no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the

[[Page 30263]]

human remains to The Tribes may proceed.
    The Indiana State Museum and History Sites Corporation is 
responsible for notifying The Consulted Tribes that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: May 10, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-10645 Filed 5-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P