[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 86 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28601-28602]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09471]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035768; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Oklahoma-Texas Area Office, Oklahoma City, OK

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 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Reclamation (USBR) has completed an inventory of human remains and 
has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this 
notice. The human remains were removed from Caddo County, OK.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after June 5, 2023.

[[Page 28602]]


ADDRESSES: Kate Ellison, USBR, 5924 NW 2nd Street, Suite 200, Oklahoma 
City, OK 73127, telephone (405) 470-4816, 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 
USBR. 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 Museum of 
the Great Plains (MGP), a repository for the USBR.

Description

    Between 1964 and 1972, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from Caddo County, OK. The human remains were 
found by a local person (Mr. Voerster) along the shoreline of Fort Cobb 
Reservoir and in proximity to archeological site 34CD697. The human 
remains were taken to the Oklahoma Archeological Survey in Norman, OK, 
where they were examined by archeologist Dr. Richard Drass and 
identified as part of a human cranium. The human remains are reasonably 
believed to have come into the possession of the Bureau of Reclamation 
around January 12, 2012, based on notes from the local collector. Since 
November 15, 2016, the human remains have been in the custody of the 
Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton, OK. On January 8, 2021, skeletal 
inventory and analysis were conducted by Rachel Perash, a contractor 
working for the Bureau of Reclamation. On July 6, 2022, additional 
analysis was conducted, by Dr. Peer Moore-Jansen, Chair and Professor 
of Anthropology at Wichita State University, who confirmed that the 
remains were human and archeological. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains 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: geographical and historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the USBR has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice 
and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, & 
Tawakonie), Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after June 5, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation 
are received, the USBR must determine the most appropriate requestor 
prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the human 
remains are considered a single request and not competing requests. The 
USBR 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, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: April 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-09471 Filed 5-3-23; 8:45 am]
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