[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 81 (Thursday, April 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25689-25690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08891]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035725; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Rochester Museum & Science 
Center, Rochester, NY

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 Rochester Museum & Science Center (RMSC) 
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 Broome County, NY.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after May 30, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Kathryn Murano Santos, Rochester Museum & Science Center, 
657 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607, telephone (585) 697-1929, 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 
Rochester Museum & Science Center. 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 Rochester Museum & Science Center.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 21 individuals were removed 
from the Castle Creek Site (Bgh 001) in Broome County, NY. The human 
remains of 17 individuals and four associated funerary objects were 
collected by the Broome County Historical Society and they were donated 
to the RMSC by Foster Disinger in 1940. The human remains of two 
individuals were donated to the RMSC by Clarence Alhart, through W.A. 
Ritchie, in June of 1933. The human remains of one individual and two 
associated funerary objects were removed during an excavation conducted 
by the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences (the predecessor of the 
RMSC) sometime between 1931 and 1933. The human remains of one 
individual were removed by an unknown person on an unknown date. No 
known individuals were identified. The six associated funerary objects 
are one deer vertebra; three faunal bone fragments; and two worked bone 
fragments. The two worked bone fragments, which were collected during 
the Rochester Museum expedition, are currently missing.

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

[[Page 25690]]

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: geographical and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Rochester Museum & Science Center has determined 
that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 21 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The six 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 Onondaga Nation.

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 30, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the Rochester Museum 
& Science Center 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 Rochester Museum & Science Center is 
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe 
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 19, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-08891 Filed 4-26-23; 8:45 am]
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