[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 198 (Friday, October 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62445-62446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22336]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034711; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Michigan, Ann 
Arbor, MI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The University of Michigan 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 University of Michigan. 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 University of Michigan at

[[Page 62446]]

the address in this notice by November 14, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Ben Secunda, NAGPRA Project 
Manager, University of Michigan, Office of Research, 3003 South State 
Street, First Floor, Wolverine Tower, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1274, 
telephone (734) 764-1185, 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 and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the University of 
Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from the Moccasin Bluff site (20BE08) in Berrien 
County, MI.
    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 
University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology (UMMAA) 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Citizen 
Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Forest County Potawatomi Community, 
Wisconsin; Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-she-
wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan (previously listed 
as Huron Potawatomi, Inc.); Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, 
Michigan and Indiana; and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation 
(previously listed as Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, Kansas) 
(hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1948, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from the Moccasin Bluff site (20BE08) in Berrien County, 
MI, by UMMAA archeologist Hale Smith. Smith uncovered three burials 
while excavating a trench at the multi-component site. All the 
individuals were found buried in an extended position and oriented in 
the same direction. According to a publication, Smith identified three 
burials at the site, but he presumably only excavated one of the 
burials, which he then brought to the Museum. The date range for this 
burial is A.D. 1400-1820, based on the extended burial treatment, with 
individuals facing the same direction, and the associated funerary 
objects. All the human remains listed in this notice were excavated by 
Smith in 1948. The associated funerary objects came from excavations by 
Smith in 1948; Joseph Birdsell, who excavated the site in 1938, and 
donated some of the funerary objects he recovered to the UMMAA in 1947; 
and Arthur Jelinek, who excavated the site in 1961. The human remains 
are of one child <=13 years old, of indeterminate sex. No known 
individual was identified. The nine associated funerary objects are one 
lot of earthenware vessel sections; four lots of earthenware body 
sherds; one lot of lithic flakes; one lot of earthenware body sherds 
and small sherd crumb; one lot of lithics, ceramic sherds, and unworked 
faunal bone fragments; and one lot of reconstructed sections of an 
earthenware vessel including rim and body sherds.
    The human remains have been determined to be Native American based 
on mortuary treatment, diagnostic artifacts, and archeological context. 
A relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably traced 
between the Native American human remains from this site and the 
Potawatomi and Miami, based on archeological and historical records 
that indicate both Tribes had a predominant presence in the St. Joseph 
River Valley from the time of first contact with the French through the 
early-1800s. Both Tribes were known to have had close and friendly 
relations in this area. In the early-1800s, the Potawatomi leader 
Moccasin presided over a village in the immediate vicinity of the site 
(in present-day Buchanan, MI) on a bluff that now bears his name.

Determinations Made by the University of Michigan

    Officials of the University of Michigan 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 nine 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. Ben Secunda, NAGPRA Project Manager, 
University of Michigan, Office of Research, 3003 South State Street, 
First Floor, Wolverine Tower, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1274, telephone (734) 
764-1185, email [email protected], by November 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 University of Michigan is responsible for notifying The Tribes 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: October 5, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-22336 Filed 10-13-22; 8:45 am]
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