[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 12 (Thursday, January 18, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3418-3419]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00831]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037263; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: North Carolina Office of State 
Archaeology, Raleigh, NC

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 North Carolina Office of State 
Archaeology 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 Burke 
County, NC.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after February 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Emily McDowell, Office of State Archaeology, 215 West Lane 
Street, Raleigh, NC 27616, telephone (919) 715-5599, 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 
North Carolina Office of State Archaeology. 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 North Carolina Office of State Archaeology.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from Burke County, NC. Burials were excavated from the Berry 
Site/Joara/Fort San Juan in 1986 by Dr. David Moore of Warren Wilson 
College. The site itself is both an American Indian Mississippian 
village and Historic 16th-century Spanish settlement known as Joara and 
Fort San Juan, respectively. Joara is known as one of the largest 
Mississippian settlements in North Carolina. It is unclear when this 
collection came into the possession of the Office of State Archaeology 
in Raleigh, NC. The three individuals were removed from two burials and 
can be identified as follows: Burial 1, one adult male aged 23-30; 
Burial 2, two adult females aged less than 26 years (Individual A) and 
18-22 years (Individual B). The 57 associated funerary objects are two 
feather rachis, one iron knife, eight chipped stone projectile points, 
one clay pipe, one quartz cobble, two ground stone, 10 flakes, one bag 
turtle carapace fragments, two copper discs, three charcoal fragments, 
seven pieces of organic fibers, two rocks, 10 washings/soil samples 
from Burial 1, four copper fragments, one charcoal fragment, and two 
soil samples from Burial 2.

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, 
historical information, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 57 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 Catawba Indian Nation.

[[Page 3419]]

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 February 20, 2024. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the North Carolina 
Office of State Archaeology 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 North Carolina Office of State 
Archaeology 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: January 11, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-00831 Filed 1-17-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P