[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 134 (Thursday, July 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42205-42206]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15040]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034193; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Mississippi Department of 
Archives and History, Jackson, MS

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Mississippi Department of Archives and 
History (MDAH) has completed an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Hancock 
County, MS.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after August 15, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Meg Cook, Director of Archaeology Collections, Mississippi 
Department of Archives and History, Museum Division, 222 North Street, 
P.O. Box 571, Jackson, MS 39205, telephone (601) 576-6927, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
MDAH. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice. Additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the inventory or related records held by the MDAH.

[[Page 42206]]

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from Hancock County, MS. On November 24, 2021, Bay St. Louis Police 
Department responded to a report detailing human remains found in a 
wooded area on Chapman Road near Longfellow Road in Bay St. Louis, MS. 
On December 8, 2021, the Hancock County Chief Medical Examiner 
Investigator was notified of the discovery and arranged to have the 
human remains sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Biloxi, 
MS. The human remains were examined prior to transport to the Office of 
the State Medical Examiner in Pearl, MS, for forensic anthropological 
analysis. Completed analysis determined the human remains were removed 
adjacent to a known archeological site and the human remains have 
biological markers consistent with Native American ancestry. On May 16, 
2022, the Office of the State Medical Examiner transferred legal 
control of the individual to the MDAH. No associated funerary objects 
are present.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, Tribes, 
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity 
between the identifiable earlier groups, Tribes, peoples, or cultures 
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: biological information, geographical information, 
historical information, and other relevant information.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the MDAH has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; 
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; and The Choctaw Nation of 
Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August 15, 2022. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the MDAH must 
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. The MDAH is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this 
notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: July 6, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-15040 Filed 7-13-22; 8:45 am]
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