[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 144 (Friday, July 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 48909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16062]



[[Page 48909]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036250; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Utah Field House of Natural 
History State Park Museum, Vernal, UT

AGENCY: Utah State Parks.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Utah Field House of Natural History 
State Park Museum (UFHNHM) 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 Uintah County, UT.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice may occur on or after August 28, 2023.

ADDRESSES: John Foster, Museum Curator, Utah Field House of Natural 
History State Park Museum, 496 East Main Street, Vernal, UT 84078, 
telephone (435) 789-3799, 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 
UFHNHM. 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 UFHNHM.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from private land in Uintah, County, UT. The mummified remains belong 
to a child approximately 5-6 years old and of unknown sex. Overall, 
preservation is excellent; the hands and right arm are the only absent 
elements. This individual displayed several characteristics associated 
with probable Native American ancestry. Native American craniofacial 
morphology includes wide infraorbital breadth, a medium sized narrow 
nasal aperture with a dull nasal sill, and an overall round skull 
morphology. Shoveling is present in the permanent upper right I1, which 
is a dental variation that is strongly associated with Native American 
or Asian ancestry; >90% of individuals with this trait are of Asian or 
Native American ancestry. In addition to the skeletal and dental 
indicators of Native American ancestry, much of the clothing found on 
and with the human remains (buckskin leggings and moccasins) is 
consistent with Native American culture. The seven associated funerary 
objects are one coarse textured fabric shirt with patch, one lot 
consisting of fragments of a dark blue cotton shirt with small flower 
designs, one pair of buckskin leggings, one pair of leather moccasins, 
one animal hide with hair still attached, one gunpowder horn, and one 
muzzle loading rifle with an octagon shaped barrel.

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.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, the UFHNHM has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     The seven 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 
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah.

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 
28, 2023. If competing requests for disposition are received, the Utah 
Field House of Natural History State Park Museum 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 Utah Field 
House of Natural History State Park 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 and 
10.11.

    Dated: July 19, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-16062 Filed 7-27-23; 8:45 am]
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