[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13363-13364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03581]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037415; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Cleveland State University, 
Cleveland, OH

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Cleveland State University has completed an 
inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were removed 
from Franklin County, MA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after March 25, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Andrew E. Kersten, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid 
Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-2214, telephone (216) 687-9350, 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 
Cleveland 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 Cleveland State University.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from Franklin County, MA. The human remains collection currently held 
at Cleveland State University is largely the work of the former member 
of faculty in the CSU Department of Anthropology, Dr. John Blank (d. 
2019). The sites known to be associated with the concerns of NAGPRA all 
fall within those excavated by (or alongside) Dr. Blank, beginning in 
the 1960s. Many of Dr. Blank's excavations took place as field schools 
for students, but some also contained components of rescue archeology 
(as sites emerged due to erosion). The human remains in question here 
were part of the Knapp site in Franklin County, MA. The individual 
appears to be 50-60 years of age. No associated funerary objects are 
present.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains 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, folklore, geographical information, 
historical information, kinship, 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, Cleveland State University has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice 
and the Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after March 25, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, Cleveland State University must determine 
the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for 
joint repatriation of the human remains are considered a single request 
and not competing requests. Cleveland State University 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.


[[Page 13364]]


    Dated: February 9, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-03581 Filed 2-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P