[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 76 (Thursday, April 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24440-24441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08332]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035672; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: United States Space Force, Cape 
Canaveral Space Force Station, Space Launch Delta 45, Brevard County, 
FL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the United States Space Force, Cape 
Canaveral Space Force Station, Space Launch Delta 45 (SLD 45 USSF) 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 Brevard County, FL.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after May 22, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Thomas E. Penders MS, RPA, Cultural Resources Manager, 
Space Launch Delta 45, U.S. Space Force, 1225 Jupiter Street, Patrick 
Space Force Base, FL 32925, telephone (321) 307-0075, 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 SLD 45 
USSF. 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

[[Page 24441]]

in the inventory or related records held by SLD 45 USSF.

Description

Burns Mound Site (8BR85)

    In 1967, 362 associated funerary objects were removed from the 
Burns Site (8BR85) (also known as Burns Mound, Burns Place, Burnham's 
Place, and Burnham's Mound) in Brevard County, FL. These objects were 
removed from the surface of the burial mound and the immediate ground 
surface. No human remains were removed from this site. The objects were 
curated at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) in 
Gainesville, Florida. The 362 associated funerary objects are one St. 
Johns Incised Body potsherd; four St. Johns Bold Stamped body 
potsherds; one St. Johns Exterior Check Stamp/Interior scored potsherd; 
four St. Johns Scored potsherds; 49 St. Johns Check Stamp potsherds; 52 
St. Johns Plain potsherds; 66 Sandy St. Johns Plain potsherds; 184 
Sand-Tempered Plain potsherds; and one Busycon sp. (shell) columella 
tool.
    At an unknown date, one associated funerary object was removed from 
the Burns Site (8BR85) in Brevard County, FL. In 1950, the associated 
funerary object was donated to the FLMNH by the property owner, and in 
August of 2022, FLMNH transferred control of the object to SLD 45 USSF. 
The one associated funerary object is a potsherd (FLMNH Accession 
Number 2538).

Holmes Mound Site (8BR86)

    In 1967, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from the Holmes Mound Site (8BR86) in Brevard County, FL, 
by a University of Florida graduate student. These human remains were 
collected from the ground surface. Both the human skeletal remains and 
associated funerary objects were curated at FLMNH (FLMNH Accession 
Number 4595, Catalog Number 103726HR) before being transferred to SLD 
45 USSF. The individual who collected the human remains and funerary 
objects stated that the site had been significantly disturbed by 
construction and that the items had been scattered over a large area of 
the site. The human remains--seven cranial fragments, four pelvic 
fragments, three femoral head fragments, one calcaneus, one clavicle, 
17 long bone shaft fragments, and one bag of unidentifiable bone 
fragments--belong to two adults and one subadult. No known individuals 
were identified. The six associated funerary objects are two St. Johns 
Plain potsherds, two Sand-Tempered Plain potsherds, one Sandy St. Johns 
potsherd, and one Busycon sp. (shell) hammer/tool.

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, anthropological, and historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, SLD 45 USSF, has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 369 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 Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; 
Seminole Tribe of Florida; and The Seminole 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 May 22, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received SLD 45 USSF 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. SLD 45 USSF 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: April 10, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-08332 Filed 4-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P