[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 81 (Thursday, April 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25687-25688]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08892]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035726; 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 Chenango, Jefferson, 
Madison, and Oneida Counties, NY.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after May 29, 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

[[Page 25688]]

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, two individuals were 
removed from the Partridge Site (Una 001) in Chenango County, NY. These 
human remains were excavated by the RMSC in 1935. No known individuals 
were identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were 
removed from the Hunter Site (Hmd 002) in Jefferson County, NY. The 
human remains of one individual were collected near the outlet of Red 
Lake by Earl Abbott and donated to the RMSC in 1946. The human remains 
of a second individual were removed by an unknown individual on an 
unknown date. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from the Muskalonge Lake Site (Hmd 001) in Jefferson County, NY. These 
human remains were excavated by W.A. Ritchie for the RMSC sometime 
between 1932 and 1933. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were 
removed from the town of Cazenovia in Madison County, NY. These human 
remains were acquired by an unknown collector around 1919, and they 
were purchased by the RMSC from Alvin H. Dewey sometime between 1928 
and 1929. No known individuals were identified. The one associated 
funerary object is a necklace with animal and human teeth. It is 
currently missing.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from the west bank of Oneida Creek in Madison County, NY. These human 
remains were collected by Henry Wemple of Vernon Center in 1958, and 
they were donated to the RMSC in 1961. No known individual was 
identified. The one associated funerary object is an animal bone.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, four individuals were 
removed from the Sherril Site in Oneida County, NY. These human remains 
were collected by Herbert Bigford, and they were then donated to the 
RMSC in 1941. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were 
removed from Teelins Site in Oneida County, NY. These human remains 
were collected by Gilbert Hagerty, and they were donated to the RMSC in 
1979. No known individuals were identified. Of the nine associated 
funerary objects, eight are present and accounted for in the RMSC 
collections and one object is currently missing. The eight present 
associated funerary objects are one flint chunk; one lot of faunal 
remains; three lots of body sherds; two clam shells; and one broken 
projectile point. The currently missing associated funerary object is 
one lot of soil.

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 type of information was used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: geographical.

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 14 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 11 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 Oneida Indian Nation and the 
Oneida 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 29, 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 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 19, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-08892 Filed 4-26-23; 8:45 am]
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