[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84357-84358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-26615]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037010; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: The University of Kansas, 
Lawrence, 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), the University of Kansas 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 Geary, Riley, Pottawatomie, Wabaunsee, Shawnee, Jefferson, 
Douglas, Leavenworth, Johnson, and Wyandotte Counties, KS.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after January 4, 2024.

[[Page 84358]]


ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas Torma, NAGPRA Program Manager, The University of 
Kansas, Office of Audit, Risk & Compliance, 1450 Jayhawk Boulevard, 351 
Strong Hall, Lawrence, KS 66045, telephone (406) 850-2220, 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 
University of Kansas. 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 University 
of Kansas

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 103 individuals were 
removed from Geary, Riley, Pottawatomie, Wabaunsee, Shawnee, Jefferson, 
Douglas, Leavenworth, Johnson, and Wyandotte Counties, KS. These human 
remains were removed from the banks and gravel bars of the Kansas River 
by amateurs who collected paleontological resources and apparently did 
not recognize the remains as human. In 1991, in response to the passage 
of NAGPRA, the University conducted a review of this collection. During 
that review, one individual was identified and transferred to the 
campus's Museum of Anthropology. In 1996, the University of Kansas 
conducted a review of the Natural History collection, and human remains 
of the additional individuals were transferred to the University's 
Museum of Anthropology. In 2002, the Museum of Anthropology was closed, 
and, in 2006, the archaeology collection which included the human 
remains was transferred to the Biodiversity Institute. No associated 
funerary objects are present.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains 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, 
geographical, and historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the University of Kansas has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 103 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 Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma; Citizen Potawatomi 
Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Kaw Nation, Oklahoma; Nez 
Perce Tribe; Oglala Sioux Tribe; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Otoe-
Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; 
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas 
and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox Tribe of the 
Mississippi in Iowa; The Osage Nation; and the Wichita and Affiliated 
Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.

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 January 4, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of Kansas 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 University of Kansas 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: November 28, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-26615 Filed 12-4-23; 8:45 am]
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