[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 187 (Thursday, September 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66891-66892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21245]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036646; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Louisiana State University, 
Museum of Natural Science, Baton Rouge, LA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of inventory completion.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Louisiana State University, Museum of 
Natural Science (LSUMNS) 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 Iberville Parish, Louisiana.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after October 30, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Rebecca Saunders, LSUMNS Division of Anthropology, 119 
Foster Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803; telephone (225) 588-0909, 
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 
LSUMNS. 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 LSUMNS.

Description

    In 1940-1941, human remains representing, at a minimum, 19 
individuals were removed from the Bayou Goula Mounds site (16IV011), in 
Iberville Parish, LA, by Edward Doran during an excavation undertaken 
as a joint project between Louisiana State University (LSU) and the 
Federal Works Project Administration. These human remains belong to 
eight adults, six juveniles, and five individuals of indeterminate age. 
Sex could not be determined for any of these individuals. The 56 
associated funerary objects are 29 projectile points (one is a 
fragment), 10 brass/copper tinkling cones, two brass buttons (both 
broken on seam), one brass bell (missing clapper), nine historic glass 
beads, two tubular copper beads, two quartz crystals, and one lot 
consisting of sherds from a small Owens Punctuated vessel.
     In 1977, human remains representing, at a minimum, one individual, 
were removed from the Bayou Goula/Mugulasha Village site (16IV134) in 
Iberville Parish, LA, by Glen Fredlund, during research for his M.A. 
thesis at LSU. In 2016, these remains were transferred from Fredlund's 
possession to the LSUMNS. The fragmentary cranial remains, which were 
found entangled among the roots of a fallen tree, belong to an adult of 
indeterminate sex. The 225 associated funerary objects are: 223 
historic glass beads, one Florida cut crystal bead, and one cube of 
galena.

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, and historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, LSUMNS has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 20 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 281 objects described in this notice are reasonably 
believed to have been placed with or near individual

[[Page 66892]]

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 Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; 
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; and The Choctaw Nation of 
Oklahoma.

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 October 30, 2023. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, LSUMNS 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. LSUMNS 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, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: September 20, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-21245 Filed 9-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P