[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14717-14718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04096]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037483; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Tyndall Air Force Base, Bay 
County, FL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Tyndall Air Force Base (Tyndall AFB) 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 Bay County, FL.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after March 29, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Jose Cintron, Chief, Environmental Element, 325th CES/
CEIE, Tyndall AFB, 103 Mississippi Road (Building 36233), Tyndall AFB, 
FL 32403, telephone (850) 283-2713, 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 
Tyndall AFB. 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 Tyndall AFB.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from Bay County, FL. The human remains were presumably, based 
on available information and professional analysis, removed from the 
Davis Point Site either located either as site 8BY07 or 8BY09, on 
federal property by an anonymous individual prior to the construction 
of the Pelican Point Golf Course sometime in the 1950s--1960s. In 2022, 
the Florida Division of Historical Resources (DHR) discovered the 
inventory containing the human remains which was received as a 
collection from the Archaeological Landscapes, Technical Assistance 
Service and Contracts Program based at Southeastern Archaeological 
Center in 2018. The three individuals range between 35 and 50+ 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: archaeological information, 
geographical information, historical information, other relevant 
information, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, Tyndall AFB has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three individuals 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 Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; Poarch Band of Creek Indians; 
Seminole Tribe of Florida; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Seminole 
Nation of Oklahoma; and the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains described by 
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 29, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, Tyndall AFB 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. Tyndall AFB 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 14718]]


    Dated: February 20, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-04096 Filed 2-27-24; 8:45 am]
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