[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 86 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28603-28604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09472]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035769; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Illinois State Museum, 
Springfield, IL

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 Illinois State Museum 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 northwest Arkansas.

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

ADDRESSES: Brooke M. Morgan, Illinois State Museum Research & 
Collections Center, 1011 East Ash Street, Springfield, IL 62701, 
telephone (217) 785-8930, 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 
Illinois State Museum. 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 Illinois 
State Museum.

Description

    Sometime prior to 1940, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from a dry bluff shelter in northwest Arkansas. 
These human remains were purchased by Ralph Foster and subsequently 
donated to the Ralph Foster Museum at College of the Ozarks. In 1990, 
the human remains were transferred to the Illinois State Museum. The 
four associated funerary objects are two twined garments or blankets, 
one lot of plant remains, and one lot of sorted burial matrix. Based on 
similar sites, this interment might date to the Late Woodland or 
Mississippian period (A.D. 500-1400).
    On an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from a bluff shelter in northwest Arkansas. In 
1971, these human remains were donated to the Ralph Foster Museum at 
College of the Ozarks, and in 1998, they were transferred to the 
Illinois State Museum. 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 types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: anthropological, archeological, geographical, historical, 
and oral traditional.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Illinois State Museum has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The four objects described in this notice are reasonably 
believed to have

[[Page 28604]]

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 Osage 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 June 5, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the Illinois State 
Museum 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 Illinois State Museum 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. 2023-09472 Filed 5-3-23; 8:45 am]
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