[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5932-5933]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01802]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037315; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, Fallon, 
NV

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 U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge 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 Churchill County, NV.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after February 29, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Patrick W. Rennaker, Archaeologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Cultural Resources Team, Columbia Pacific Northwest and 
Pacific Islands (R1), and Pacific Southwest (R8), 20555 Gerda Lane, 
Sherwood, OR 97140, telephone (503) 294-7490, 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 
Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge. 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 Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual was removed 
from Churchill County, NV. In 1969, modern human activity exposed 
skeletal material in a sand dune near the shore of a small lake located 
on Stillwater Wildlife Management Area. The site was brought to the 
attention of the Nevada Archaeological Survey at the Desert Research 
Institute, Nevada. Dr. Hardesty a professor of anthropology and 
archaeology at the University of Nevada, Reno inspected the site and 
determined the likelihood of further damage was high and the best 
possible recourse at the time was to recover as much of the disturbed 
material as possible. He recovered all human bone, a mano fragment, and 
a freshwater shell. Also noted in the vicinity was scattered shell and 
charcoal to a depth of 15 cm below the surface, but the origin of this 
material could not be determined. Site dating was not possible as a 
result. The two associated funerary objects are one stone mano fragment 
and one shell.

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: based on lifeway, oral tradition, folklore, geography, 
anthropology, ethnography, archeology, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate

[[Page 5933]]

Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the Stillwater 
National Wildlife Refuge has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     The two 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 Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the 
Fallon Reservation and Colony, Nevada.

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 29, 2024. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Stillwater 
National Wildlife Refuge 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 Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge is 
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and 
Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.
    This notice was submitted before the effective date of the revised 
regulations (88 FR 86452, December 13, 2023, effective January 12, 
2024). As the notice conforms to the mandatory format of the Federal 
Register and includes the required information, the National Park 
Service is publishing this notice as submitted.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: January 24, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-01802 Filed 1-29-24; 8:45 am]
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