[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87807-87808]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27798]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037092; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: American Museum of Natural 
History, New York, NY

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 American Museum of Natural History 
(AMNH) 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 
Snohomish County, WA.

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

ADDRESSES: Nell Murphy, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central 
Park West, New York, NY 10024, telephone (212) 769-5837, 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 
AMNH. 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 AMNH.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 16 individuals were removed 
from Snohomish County, WA. In 1899, former AMNH Curator of North 
American Archaeology, Harlan Smith, excavated the individuals and 15 
associated funerary objects from eight shell heaps found along the

[[Page 87808]]

Stillaguamish River in the vicinity of Stanwood, WA. The material was 
collected as part of the Jesup Expedition and subsequently accessioned 
at the AMNH. Biological and archeological evidence suggests that the 
individuals excavated by Smith lived sometime during the Prehistoric 
Period. The 15 associated funerary objects are four shells, including a 
mussel shell; one stone; two grit stones; one stone pestle; two antler 
wedges; one piece of antler; one bone implement; one bone harpoon barb; 
one animal tooth; and one animal upper jaw fragment.

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 information, archeological information, 
biological information, geographical information, historical 
information, linguistics, oral tradition, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the AMNH has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 16 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 15 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 Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians 
of Washington; Swinomish Indian Tribal Community; Tulalip Tribes of 
Washington; and the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe.

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 AMNH 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 AMNH 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, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: December 8, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-27798 Filed 12-18-23; 8:45 am]
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