[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 38 (Monday, February 26, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14096-14098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03797]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037442; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Office of the State Archaeologist 
Bioarchaeology Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

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 Office of the State Archaeologist 
Bioarchaeology Program (OSA-BP) 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 Adams, Allamakee, Clay, Lyon, Polk, and Warren Counties, 
IA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after March 27, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Lara Noldner, Office of the State Archaeologist 
Bioarchaeology Program, University of Iowa, 700 S Clinton Street, Iowa 
City, IA 52242, telephone (319) 384-0740, 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 
OSA-BP. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

[[Page 14097]]

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 OSA-BP.

Description

    In 1965 and 1966, human remains representing, at minimum, 43 
individuals were removed from the Howard Goodhue Site (13PK1) in Polk 
County, IA. The human remains were recovered during excavations 
conducted by the Iowa State University Archaeology Laboratory (ISUAL) 
under contract with the National Park Service in the area of the Red 
Rock Reservoir. In 1991, the ISUAL transferred the human remains to the 
OSA-BP. Additional human remains were later discovered in the ISUAL 
collections and were transferred to the OSA-BP in 1996, 1997, and 2005. 
The transferred human remains were labeled with the following ISUAL 
catalog numbers: 16a, 1715, 2383, 2925, 3518, 5712, 6318, 6534, 9225, 
10209, 13118, 13120, 13154-5, 13344-5, 13701, 14601, 16804, 16342, 
16797, 20489, 20737-9, 21659-64, 21723-46, 21753-7, 21758-65, 23060a, 
23106-12, 23539-40, 23545-60, 23562-4, 23566-9, 23577-9, 23585, 23638-
9, 23641-4, 23893-23914, 23970-2, 23975-6, 24048-59. Among the 43 
individuals, 24 adults and 18 juveniles were identified. The adults 
include four possible males and eight possible females. Young and 
middle-aged adults are represented, as well as one old adult. Four of 
the juveniles are infants ranging from newborn to 2.5 years. Two 
juveniles fall in the two- to four-year-old range, and two in the four- 
to six-year-old range. Two juveniles fall in the six- to ten-year-old 
range, and five were aged somewhere between 10 and 16 years. The 
remaining three juveniles were roughly estimated to be between eight 
and 21 years old (Burial Project 521, 990, 1141, 1825). The associated 
funerary objects were transferred to the OSA-BP in 1996 (Catalog #s 
23640, 23645a, 23892). The 27 associated funerary objects are 16 small 
copper beads, eight cylindrical copper beads and fragments, one portion 
of a reconstructed vessel, and two ceramic sherds.
    In 1966, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from the Clarkson Site (13WA2) in Warren County, IA. The 
human remains were recovered during excavations conducted by the ISUAL 
under contract with the National Park Service as part of the 
interagency river basin salvage program at the Red Rock Reservoir. In 
1991, the human remains were transferred from the ISUAL to the OSA-BP. 
The transferred human remains were labeled with the following ISUAL 
catalog numbers: 3837-3952, 3954-3967, 3969-3997. A child aged 2.5 to 
3.5 years is represented by the human remains (Burial Project 519). No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1968, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from site 13WA105 in Warren County, IA. The human remains 
were recovered during salvage excavations conducted by the ISUAL after 
the land was acquired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The ISUAL 
transferred the human remains to the OSA-BP in 1991. The transferred 
human remains were labeled with the following ISUAL catalog numbers: 
2013, 2275, 3980, 4937a. Two young to middle-aged adults are 
represented by the human remains, as well as a child approximately 
three months to one year old (Burial Project 520). No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    In 2008, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from Adams County, IA. The culturally modified human 
cranium was discovered on a sand bar (find spot 13AA106) in the East 
Nodoway River by a private citizen. No Native American habitation or 
burial sites have been recorded in the vicinity of the findspot, so the 
original location of the cranium is unknown. The human remains were 
transferred to the Iowa OSA-BP. A young adult female is represented by 
the cranial remains, which exhibit pictorial incising including a 
``birdman'' figure and a four-pointed star (Burial Project 2300). The 
design motifs have been documented on other culturally modified cranial 
fragments from other archaeologically defined Oneota sites. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    At an unknown time, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from the Blood Run Site (13LO2) in Lyon County, 
IA. The human remains were collected from the site by a private citizen 
before being transferred to the OSA with faunal remains from the site 
in April 2022. The human remains were initially thought to be faunal 
before being properly identified by OSA staff. The human remains are a 
single fragmented ilium representing a single juvenile individual aged 
between 8 and 10 years. The fragment exhibits green staining from 
contact with copper (Burial Project 3685). No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    At an unknown time, human remains representing, at minimum, two 
individuals were removed from Blood Run Site (13LO2) in Lyon County, 
IA. The human remains were collected by a private citizen before being 
transferred to the OSA with other artifacts collected from the site in 
July of 2023. The human remains are a single fragmented adult right 
ulna and a right mandible fragment from a juvenile individual aged 
between 8 and 11 years old (BP3812). No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    In May of 2023, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from the Fort Des Moines site (13PK61) in Polk 
County, IA. The human remains were excavated by Wapsi Valley 
Archaeology Inc. during a Phase III excavation for a new watermain. 
Tribal monitors were contacted to observe the rest of the Phase III, 
and the human remains were transferred to the OSA. They represent one 
adult individual of unknown sex and age (BP3798). No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    At an unknown time, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from site 13CY2 in Clay County IA. The human 
remains were collected by a private collector and then donated to the 
OSA. In July of 2023 the human remains were identified in the donated 
materials by OSA staff. The human remains are a left second mandibular 
molar from an adult individual (BP 3817). No associated funerary 
objects are present.

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, 
geographical information, historical information, linguistics, and oral 
tradition.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the OSA-BP has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 53 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 27 objects described in this notice are reasonably 
believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at 
the time of death or

[[Page 14098]]

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 Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; 
Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Omaha Tribe 
of Nebraska; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of 
Indians of Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Three Affiliated Tribes 
of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; and the Winnebago Tribe 
of Nebraska.

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 March 27, 2024. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the OSA-BP 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 OSA-BP 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: February 16, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-03797 Filed 2-23-24; 8:45 am]
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