[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2122-2123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00472]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035100; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of California, San 
Diego, San Diego, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of California, San Diego 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 Hale and Tuscaloosa 
Counties, AL.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after February 13, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Eva Trujillo, University of California, San Diego, 9500 
Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, telephone (858) 414-4609, 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 
University of California, San Diego. 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 University of California, San Diego.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 478 individuals were 
removed from various Moundville sites in Hale and Tuscaloosa Counties, 
AL. From the 1930's to 1987, several large-scale archeological 
excavations undertaken at the Moundville sites on behalf of the 
University of Alabama resulted in the removal of Native American human 
remains. In January of 1987, Dr. Margaret Schoeninger and two 
colleagues requested samples of fragmentary human remains from the 
University of Alabama Museum Collections for the purpose of diet and 
ecology reconstruction research pertaining to Moundville I, II, and III 
phases. In response, samples from the various Moundville sites were 
transferred to Dr. Schoeninger and her colleagues. Sometime in the 
2000s, the Moundville sample collection and limited supporting 
documentation were transferred to the University of California, San 
Diego. In June of 2020, the University of California, San Diego became 
aware of this collection. The one associated funerary object is one lot 
of faunal remains.

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: archeological, geographical, oral traditional, and 
historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the University of California, San Diego has determined 
that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 478 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The one lot of 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.
     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 present-day Muskogean speaking 
Tribes, namely the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously listed 
as Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; 
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Seminole 
Tribe of Florida (previously listed as Seminole Tribe of Florida 
(Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood, & Tampa Reservations)); The 
Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation; The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and the Thlopthlocco Tribal 
Town.

[[Page 2123]]

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 February 13, 2023. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the University of 
California, San Diego 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 University of California, San Diego is 
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes 
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: January 4, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-00472 Filed 1-11-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P