[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 126 (Monday, July 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42741-42742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14081]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036103; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Indiana Department of 
Transportation, Indianapolis, IN

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 Indiana Department of Transportation, 
though its agent, Ball State University, Applied Anthropology 
Laboratories, has completed an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects and has determined that there is no 
cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects and any Indian Tribe. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Henry County, IN.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice may occur on or after August 2, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Kevin C. Nolan, Ball State University, Applied Anthropology 
Laboratories, 2000 University Avenue, Muncie, IN 47306, telephone (765) 
285-5325, 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 
Indiana Department of Transportation. 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 Ball State University, Applied

[[Page 42742]]

Anthropology Laboratories and Indiana Department of Transportation.

Description

    In 1987, human remains representing, at minimum, 12 individuals 
were removed from Site 12-Hn-298 in Henry County, IN. When this site 
was disturbed during earth-moving activities by Indiana Department of 
Highways, a salvage excavation was initiated by Ball State University 
to document the features exposed. The salvage excavations uncovered 12 
human burials and 26 other precontact-era cultural features. 
Radiocarbon dates from the site fall generally in the Late Woodland 
period (1,000  50, 1430  60, and 1,050  80 RCYBP), with one Late Archaic projectile recovered in back 
dirt also indicating possibly multiple temporal components. 
Investigator (Donald Cochran) determined the burials and features 
represent an Albee phase occupation (ca. 800 to 1200 CE). The human 
remains have since been curated at Ball State University, Applied 
Anthropology Laboratories under accession number 87.27. The human 
remains belong to four juveniles, three female adults, four male 
adults, and one adult of indeterminate sex. The age of these 
individuals range from less than 6 months to over 60 years. The 5,600 
associated funerary objects are 3,922 faunal elements, 16 animal bone 
beads, 98 shell beads, 31 animal bone tools, 1,064 floral remains or 
charcoal samples, 134 ceramics, 27 bifaces or biface fragments, 154 
pieces of lithic debitage, 24 unifacial tools, eight cores, one ocher, 
three celts, 90 fire-cracked rocks, 20 miscellaneous stones, one piece 
of quartz, one piece of glass, two pieces of metal, one piece of 
cinder, one plastic button, and two soil samples.

Aboriginal Land

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
were removed from known geographic locations. These locations are the 
aboriginal lands of one or more Indian Tribes. The following 
information was used to identify the aboriginal land: a final judgment 
of the Indian Claims Commission or the United States Court of Claims, 
and the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, the Indiana Department 
of Transportation has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 12 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 5,600 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.
     No relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably 
traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects and 
any Indian Tribe.
     The human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice were removed from the aboriginal land of the 
Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Miami 
Tribe of Oklahoma.

Requests for Disposition

    Written requests for disposition of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for disposition 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes 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, or who shows that the requestor is an aboriginal land 
Indian Tribe.
    Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August 2, 
2023. If competing requests for disposition are received, the Indiana 
Department of Transportation must determine the most appropriate 
requestor prior to disposition. Requests for joint disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects are considered a single 
request and not competing requests. The Ball State University, Applied 
Anthropology Laboratories, on behalf of the Indiana Department of 
Transportation, 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 and 
10.11.

    Dated: June 21, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-14081 Filed 6-30-23; 8:45 am]
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