[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 86365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27365]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037051; 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 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 Geary County, 
KS.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice may occur on or after January 12, 2024.

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, two individuals were 
removed from Ruhnke Mound, 14GE605, in Geary County, KS. In September 
of 1980, Dr. Patricia J. O'Brien of Kansas State University conducted a 
one-day excavation at this site. The resulting assemblage was processed 
by Dr. O'Brien and then removed to the archaeology laboratory at Kansas 
State University for analysis, reporting, and curation, where it has 
since remained. The human remains were extremely fragmented. The 12 
associated funerary objects are one lot consisting of wood fragments 
(approximately 17 pieces), one nutshell fragment, one lot consisting of 
miscellaneous seeds, one gastropod shell, one fragment of leather, one 
stone tool, two bifaces, one lot consisting of stone debitage 
(approximately 115 pieces), two stone cores, and one lot consisting of 
unworked rocks (approximately 109 pieces).

Aboriginal Land

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
were removed from a known geographic location. This location is the 
aboriginal lands of one or more Indian Tribes. The following 
information was used to identify the aboriginal land: treaties.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, Kansas State 
University has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 12 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 
Kaw Nation, Oklahoma; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; The Osage Nation; 
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; 
and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, & 
Tawakonie), Oklahoma.

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 January 
12, 2024. If competing requests for disposition are received, Kansas 
State University 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. 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 and 
10.11.

    Dated: December 6, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-27365 Filed 12-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P