[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 178 (Friday, September 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63607-63608]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19960]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036555; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

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 Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) 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 West 
Feliciana Parish, LA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after October 16, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Patricia Capone, PMAE, Harvard University, 11 Divinity 
Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone (617) 496-3702, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative

[[Page 63608]]

responsibilities under NAGPRA. The determinations in this notice are 
the sole responsibility of the PMAE. 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 PMAE.

Description

    In 1972, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals 
were removed from the Trudeau Site (LMS 29-J-1) in West Feliciana 
Parish, LA, by Jeffrey P. Brain as part of the Lower Mississippi Survey 
Expedition. At that time, the Survey Expedition was a project of 
Harvard University. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Based on Native American ceramics, glass beads, and European 
objects recovered from LMS 29-J-1, the Trudeau site is known to have 
been the primary village and cemetery of the Tunica people from 1731 
through 1764. Historical, ethnohistorical, and oral historical evidence 
summarized by Mr. Brain in his publication, Tunica Archaeology, support 
the proposition that the present-day descendants of the 18th century 
Tunica are the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana.

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 tradition.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the PMAE has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of two individuals 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 Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe.

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 October 16, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the PMAE 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 PMAE 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, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: September 8, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-19960 Filed 9-14-23; 8:45 am]
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