[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18580-18581]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06474]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035558; 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 Clay, 
Prentiss, Yalobusha, and Quitman Counties, MS.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after April 28, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Jessica Walzer, NAGPRA Coordinator, Mississippi Department 
of Archives and History, Museum Division, 222 North Street, P.O. Box 
571, Jackson, MS 39205, telephone (601) 359-6851, 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 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 MDAH.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were 
removed from Clay County, MS. In 2014, human remains were excavated 
from Dexter Site I (22CL000) during a survey by Mississippi Fish and 
Wildlife survey and in 2016, they were transferred to MDAH. In 1979, 
human remains were removed from Chuquatonchee #2 (22CL598) during a 
survey by MDAH. No known individuals were identified. The 11 associated 
funerary objects are two lots of lithics, two lots of faunal remains, 
two lots of shell, one lot of ceramics, one lot of petrified wood, one 
lot of worked bones, one lot of metal, and one lot of bricks.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were 
removed from Prentiss County, MS. In 1970, the human remains were from 
Shell (22PS502) during a survey by MDAH. No known individuals were 
identified. The two associated funerary objects are one lot of lithics 
and one lot of ceramics.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from Yalobusha County, MS. At an unknown date, C. Spearman removed 
these human remains from an unknown site whose location was given as 
``Yalobusha and Skuna Rivers.'' No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    One associated funerary object was removed from the Blue Lake 
(22QU531) site in Quitman County, MS. Following the transfer of control 
of human remains and associated funerary objects listed in a Notice of 
Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register on July 14, 
2022, an additional funerary object was found. The associated funerary 
object is one lot of worked bones.

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, biological, and geographical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, MDAH has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of nine individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 14 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 the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of 
Texas; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; 
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Miami 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Quapaw Nation; 
The Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation; The Osage Nation; and the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe.

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 April 28, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, 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. MDAH 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, 
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[[Page 18581]]

U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, and 
10.14.

    Dated: March 22, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-06474 Filed 3-28-23; 8:45 am]
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