[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 188 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67351-67352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21388]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036673; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Kansas State University, 
Manhattan, KS

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Kansas State University 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 Platte County, MO.

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

ADDRESSES: Megan Williamson, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and 
Social Work, Kansas State University, 204 Waters Hall, 1603 Old Claflin 
Place, Manhattan, KS 66506-4003, telephone (785) 532-6005, 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 Kansas 
State University. 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 Kansas State 
University.

Description.

    Human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were 
removed from the Cochran Mound, 23PL86, in Platte County, KS. The 
Cochran Mound is a burial mound on private land. It occupies a portion 
of the highest point of the left (east) bluff of the Missouri River, 
just upstream from the confluence of Brush Creek with the river. The 
mound measures 102 feet long (north-south) by 86 feet wide (east- 
west), and it contains a stone vault measuring 8.75 feet square. 
Excavation of the Cochran Mound was conducted in June of 1971 by staff 
and students of the Kansas Archaeological Field School, under the 
direction of Dr. Patricia J. O'Brien of Kansas State University. 
Excavation showed that it had been severely looted by an unknown person 
or persons at an unknown time in the past. Collections were processed 
and cataloged by field school students and then removed to the 
archeology laboratory at Kansas State University for analysis, 
reporting, and curation. They have remained in the university's 
possession since that time. The human remains are commingled and are 
highly fragmented. Some of the bones were burnt, suggesting that 
cremation had occurred. As some of the artifacts also show heat 
fractures, they may have been with the bodies at the time of cremation. 
The human remains belong to four adults, one juvenile, and one infant. 
One of the adults is female and another adult was at least 45 years of 
age or older at the time of death. The 17 associated funerary objects 
are one projectile point, four biface fragments, one retouched flake, 
five bullets (historic), one hematite stone, one shell bead, one lot 
consisting of gastropod shells, two charcoal samples, and one lot 
consisting of stone debitage (approximately 38 pieces).
    Human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were 
removed from the Cogan Mounds, 23PL125, in Platte County, MO. The Cogan 
Mounds are comprised of two burial mounds on private land. Mound 1 
measures about five meters in diameter and was made of various sized 
limestone slabs mixed with dirt. It contained the remains of a 
disturbed limestone vault measuring 1.78 meters long on the north side 
and 2.20 meters on the west side (the east and south sides were 
sufficiently damaged as to preclude measurement). No entrance was 
found. The presence of Euromerican debris indicated prior

[[Page 67352]]

disturbance. Mound 2 was about 35 meters to the southeast of Mound 1. 
It contained an irregular rectangular limestone vault measuring 2.77 
meters long on the north side, 2.83 meters long on the west side, and 
3.11 meters long on the east side. The 0.88-meter-wide entrance was on 
the south side, 0.84 meter from the west wall and 0.82 meter from the 
east wall. The vault was intact, but the presence of Euromerican debris 
indicated it had been looted at an unknown time in the past. Excavation 
of the Cogan Mounds was conducted in June and July of 1973 by staff and 
students from the Kansas Archaeological Field School, under the 
direction of Dr. Patricia J. O'Brien from Kansas State University. 
Collections were processed and cataloged by field school students and 
then removed to the archeology laboratory at Kansas State University 
for analysis, reporting, and curation. They have remained in the 
university's possession since that time. Fragmentary human remains 
belonging to one female adult, two adults of indeterminate sex, one 
child and one six-month-old infant were removed from Mound 1. Some of 
the bones are burnt, suggesting that cremation had occurred. 
Fragmentary human remains belonging to an adult of indeterminate sex 
were removed from Mound 2. Several pieces of bone show green copper 
staining. Of the 39 associated funerary objects, 23 are historic. The 
39 associated funerary objects are eight metal nail fragments, one iron 
stake, one metal bridle ring, one bullet casing, two glass buttons, one 
ceramic fragment, nine glass and crockery fragments, one hematite 
stone, one projectile point, one lot consisting of stone debitage 
(approximately 83 pieces), one stone core, one fossil, one animal bone 
fragment, two gastropod shells, one ceramic sherd, three seeds, two 
charcoal samples, and two rocks.

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: geographical and historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, Kansas State University has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 12 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 56 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 Iowa Tribe of Kansas and 
Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Otoe-
Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in 
Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox Tribe of the 
Mississippi in Iowa; and The Osage 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 October 30, 2023. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, Kansas State 
University 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. Kansas State University 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: September 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-21388 Filed 9-28-23; 8:45 am]
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