[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 81 (Thursday, April 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25696-25697]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08893]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035727; 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 Oswego County, New York, 
and from an unknown location in western New York.

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 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 Candee Farm (Bwv 005) in Oswego County, NY. These 
human remains were collected by William H. Jennings and George 
Flansburg, and they were acquired by the RMSC in 1937. No known 
individuals were identified. The four associated funerary objects are 
two worked flint tools and two unfinished projectile points.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, four individuals were 
removed from the Luke Site (Bwv 017) in Oswego County, NY. These human 
remains were collected by Charles Denman, and they were donated to the 
RMSC in 1947. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 11 individuals were removed 
from the Oberlander 1 Site (Syr 004) in Oswego County, NY. These human 
remains were acquired during RMSC expeditions conducted from 1937 to 
1938. No known individuals were identified. The 20 associated funerary 
objects are one chert; one lot of faunal bones; one lot of soil refuse; 
one lot of chert flakes and biface fragments; two lots of chert flakes; 
one piece of charred material; two pieces of charcoal; one biface; one 
lot of biface fragments; two pieces of charred wood; three lots of 
pottery sherds; one pottery sherd; one lot of pottery sherd pieces; one 
lot of mixed soil and bones; and one chert cache blade.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 19 individuals were removed 
from the Oberlander 2 Site (Syr 003) in Oswego County, NY. These human 
remains were excavated during an RMSC expedition conducted in 1938. No 
known individuals were identified. Of the 223 associated funerary 
objects, 204 are present in the RMSC collections and 19 are currently 
missing. The 204 present associated funerary objects are one lot of 
pipe fragments; one lot of chert flakes; three lots of charred 
material; one lot of grey ash samples; one lot of charred wood; one lot 
of charred wood and faunal bone; one lot of charcoal, bone, flint; two 
lots of native copper awls; one lot of worked wood fragments; one 
antler tip; one lot of projectile point fragments; one triangular chert 
scraper/perforator; one side-notched base; six side-notched chert 
projectile points with missing tip; one side-notched projectile point; 
one

[[Page 25697]]

stemmed chert projectile point with missing tip and side; one side-
notched chert projectile point with a broken base; one triangular chert 
blade; one chert perforator with a missing base; one lot of sherd 
pieces; two chert and sherd blades; one copper awl; one notched 
sandstone chopper; one chert knife; five notched chert projectile 
points; one chert knife base; one sandstone hammerstone; one beaver 
incisor knife; one broken bone harpoon; three bone awls; one half of a 
schist gorget; one sandstone anvil stone; five chert perforators; one 
Plano convex granite gneiss adze; one chert pecking hammer; one 
sandstone waterworn pebble; two broken chert blades; six chert end 
scrapers; three chert blade fragments; one stemmed chert projectile 
point base; one retouched flake chert blade; one lot of chert scrapers 
and sherds; one lot of native copper awl fragments; two reworked slate 
gorget fragments; one end scraper; one chert perforator base; one 
broken chert perforator; one broken chert projectile point; one lot of 
bone implement; one bone harpoon; one chert perforator with missing 
tip; one broken side-notched chert projectile point; one whetstone; one 
broken perforator; one anvil stone; one broken burnt bone implement; 
one steatite sherd; 12 lots of side-notched chert projectile points; 
one triangular chert projectile point; one chert projectile point; one 
chert perforator/scraper; one chert cache blade base; one stemmed chert 
base; one burnt bone implement; one burnt worked antler fragment; one 
slate whetstone; one sandstone whetstone; two celts; two pyrites 
strike-a-lights; two chert flint strikers; six lots of triangular chert 
scrapers; one chert projectile point with missing base; one burnt bone 
needle fragment; one burnt antler engraver handle(?); one lot of 
fragmentary burnt bone awls; two burnt bone awl tip & fragments; two 
shale gorget fragments; one banded slate bird stone with a broken nose; 
one semi lozenge projectile point with missing tip; one chert cache 
blade with missing tip and base; two chert cache blades with missing 
tip; one sandstone bird stone; one pottery tube fragment; one notched 
chert projectile point base; three lots of sherds; three slate gorget 
fragments; one lot of hematite pieces; three lots of cache blades; one 
side-notched chert projectile point fragment; 31 lots of chert cache 
blades; three broken chert cache blades; one semi lozenge chert 
projectile point with missing tip; six chert projectile point tips; one 
chert blade tip; one schist adze(?) fragment; one chert blade or reject 
fragment; one burnt bone awl tip; one slate gorget; one schist adze bit 
fragment; one burnt bone awl fragment; one hammerstone; one slightly 
notched chert projectile point with missing tip; one stemmed chert 
scraper or base; one Plano convex schistose material adze; one steatite 
rim sherd; one schistose material tool fragment; one stemmed 
chalcedonous chert spearhead; one worked slate; one broken bone 
implement; one sandstone chopper; and one charred bark and leather. The 
19 associated funerary objects currently missing are one notched barbed 
chert projectile point; three side-notched chert projectile points; one 
perforator fragment; one broken chert scraper; one triangular chert 
scraper; three lots of sherds; one worked hematite; one celt; one chert 
blade tip; one stemmed chalcedonous chert projectile point; one stemmed 
chert scraper; one chert blade fragment; one chert cache blade; one 
chert perforator; and one lot of soil. The RMSC continues to look for 
the missing objects.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from the Wickham Site (Syr 001) in Oswego County, NY. These human 
remains were collected by W.A. Ritchie during an RMSC expedition 
conducted in 1945. No known individual was identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from an unknown location in western New York. These human remains were 
collected by S.P. Moulthrup on an unknown date. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.

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 38 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 247 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 Cayuga Nation; Oneida Indian 
Nation; Oneida Nation; Onondaga Nation; Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in 
Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox Tribe of the 
Mississippi in Iowa; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe; Seneca Nation of 
Indians; Seneca-Cayuga Nation; Tonawanda Band of Seneca; Tuscarora 
Nation; and the Wyandotte 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, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: April 19, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-08893 Filed 4-26-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P