[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87799-87800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27789]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037079; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand 
Rapids, MI

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 Grand Rapids Public Museum 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 Lee County, FL.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after January 18, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Alex Forist, Chief Curator, 272 Pearl Street NW, Grand 
Rapids, MI 49504, telephone (616) 929-1809, 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 
Grand Rapids Public Museum. 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 Grand Rapids Public Museum.

Description

    At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, four 
individuals were removed from Lee County, FL. At an unknown date, Dr. 
J.W. Velie, a medical professional and professor who lived in St. 
Joseph, MI, and wintered in Florida reportedly purchased the human 
remains and artifact from an unknown individual that were said to have 
been found in a grave in 1880. From 1870 to 1893, Velie was employed as 
an assistant curator for the Academy of Science in Chicago, IL, and 
following the Great Chicago Fire, he conducted field work in Cuba, 
Florida, and the Yucatan to collect specimens to help rebuild the 
Academy's collections. The Grand Rapids Public Museum acquired the 
human remains and funerary object from Velie in 1909. The age of the 
human remains is unknown. The one associated funerary object is an 
ornamental metal coin piece that has been hammered and has punched 
holes.

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: archeological information, geographical information, oral 
history, and historical information.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Grand Rapids Public Museum has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of four individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The one object 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 Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; 
Seminole Tribe of Florida; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; and The 
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.

[[Page 87800]]

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 January 18, 2024. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Grand Rapids 
Public Museum 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. The Grand Rapids Public Museum is responsible for 
sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations 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: December 8, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-27789 Filed 12-18-23; 8:45 am]
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