[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 110 (Thursday, June 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37574-37575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12282]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035977; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 July 10, 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, seven individuals were 
removed from the Palmer (F.A. Rider) Site (Ap1 001) in Broome County, 
NY. The individuals were excavated during RMSC expeditions in 1931, 
1933, and 1948. No known individuals were identified. Of the eight 
associated funerary objects listed in this notice, two objects are 
present and accounted for in the RMSC collections and six objects are 
currently missing. (Rochester Museum & Science Center continues to look 
for these missing objects.) The two present associated funerary objects 
are one lot of sherds and one lot of bear skeletons. The six currently 
missing associated funerary objects are one deer skull; two stone net 
sinkers; one miniature pot; and two body sherds.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 27 individuals were removed 
from the Roger P. Clark Site (Bgh 002) in Broome County, NY. The 
individuals were excavated by the Rochester Museum in 1929 and 1930. No 
known individuals were identified. The one associated funerary object 
is a lot of mixed soil and bone fragments.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from the Roger P. Clark Site (Bgh 002) in Broome County, NY. The 
individual was removed by Mr. Clark in 1930. No known individual was 
identified. The one associated funerary object is one lot of brass 
thimbles with thongs.

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 35 individuals of Native American ancestry.

[[Page 37575]]

     The 10 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 Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; 
Delaware Tribe of Indians; Oneida Indian Nation; Oneida Nation; 
Onondaga Nation; and the Tuscarora 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 July 10, 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: May 31, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-12282 Filed 6-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P