[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 16016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04660]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037522; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Tennessee, 
Department of Anthropology, Knoxville, TN

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 University of Tennessee, Department of 
Anthropology (UTK), 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 Jackson County, MO.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after April 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Ozlem Kilic, University of Tennessee, Office of the 
Provost, 527 Andy Holt Tower, Knoxville, TN 37996-0152, telephone (865) 
974-2454, email [email protected] and [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 UTK. 
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 UTK.

Description

    Sometime before 1968, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from Fort Osage (23JA45), in Jackson County, MO 
by an unknown party. Based on a past pattern of practice, it is likely 
that this individual was transferred to William Bass for analysis, 
possibly while he was at the University of Kansas, and subsequently 
brought by him to Knoxville when he began working at UTK in 1971. 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, linguistics, and oral 
tradition.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, UTK 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 Osage Nation.

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 April 5, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation 
are received, UTK 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. UTK 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: February 27, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-04660 Filed 3-5-24; 8:45 am]
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