[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56442-56443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19826]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034494; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Cultural and Natural 
History, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Museum of Cultural and Natural History at Central Michigan 
University 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 Museum of 
Cultural and Natural History. 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 Museum of Cultural and Natural History at 
the address in this notice by October 14, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Jay C. Martin, Director, Museum of 
Cultural and Natural History, Central Michigan University, 103 Rowe 
Hall, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, telephone (989) 774-3829, 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.

[[Page 56443]]

3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects under the control of the Museum of Cultural and 
Natural History, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from 
Montezuma County, CO.
    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 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 Museum 
of Cultural and Natural History staff and consultation occurred with 
representatives of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico 
(previously listed as Pueblo of San Juan); Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Santo Domingo Pueblo 
(previously listed as Kew Pueblo, New Mexico, and as Pueblo of Santo 
Domingo); Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, 
Colorado; Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (previously listed as Ute Mountain 
Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico, & Utah); 
and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico (hereafter 
referred to as ``The Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1970, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from Montezuma County, CO, by Terry Ballard, an amateur 
archeologist from Overland Park, KS. The site was located on a farm 
owned by Mr. Ray Stanley in the vicinity of Hovenweep National Monument 
and approximately 12 miles outside the municipality of Cortez, in 
Montezuma County, Colorado. Central Michigan University acquired these 
human remains in 1971, through two separate donations. The human 
remains belong to a young adult female. No known individual was 
identified. The five associated funerary objects are one bone awl, 
three ceramic pieces, and one lot of faunal remains.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by 
Anthropologists Jacqueline T. Eng and Janet Gardner who determined the 
individual was of Native American descent. Based upon the burial 
context detailed in the original site report, the site is reasonably 
believed to be Anasazi and to date from the Basketmaker II (1000 B.C.) 
to Pueblo III (A.D. 1300) periods. The stylistic attributes of the 
associated funerary objects from the Stanley Site indicate that they 
are of Ancestral Puebloan manufacture.

Determinations Made by the Museum of Cultural and Natural History, 
Central Michigan University

    Officials of the Museum of Cultural and Natural History, Central 
Michigan University 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 five 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 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 and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Dr. Jay C. Martin, Museum of Cultural and 
Natural History, Central Michigan University, 103 Rowe Hall, Mt. 
Pleasant, MI 48859, telephone (989) 774-3829, email [email protected], 
by October 14, 2022. After that date, if no additional requestors have 
come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.
    The Museum of Cultural and Natural History, Central Michigan 
University is responsible for notifying The Tribes that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: September 1, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-19826 Filed 9-13-22; 8:45 am]
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