[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 102 (Friday, May 24, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45917-45918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-11451]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037980; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: City of Evansville Water and 
Sewer Utility, Evansville, IN

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 City of Evansville Water and Sewer 
Utility (EWSU) 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.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after June 24, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Andrew V. Martin, Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc., 201 NW 
4th Street, Evansville, IN 47713, telephone

[[Page 45918]]

(812) 253-3009, email ky.com">amartin@crai-ky.com.

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 
EWSU, and additional information on the determinations in this notice, 
including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or 
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Based on the information available, human remains representing, at 
least, eight individuals have been reasonably identified. The six 
associated funerary objects were found in association with two burials. 
Two concentrations of amorphous silver flecking that measured 
approximately 5 cm in diameter were found at the left shoulder area and 
at the mid-abdominal area of one burial. Another burial had a total of 
four copper buttons found in association with a likely male adult. The 
remaining six burials did not have any associated funerary objects.
    In 2023, human remains representing 75 individuals were 
archaeologically excavated from a known early nineteenth-century 
cemetery, McGary's Burial Ground (Archaeological Site 12VG2126), in 
downtown Evansville, Vanderburgh County, IN. These human remains are 
represented by individual burials. The burials consisted of infants 
through old adults who, based on the recovered cultural materials, were 
most likely interred from 1816 through 1829. The identities of all 
exhumed individuals could not be determined. Due to poor preservation, 
physical analysis of the remains was limited, and biological affinity 
could not be assessed for most of the individuals. Although, 
morphological characteristics from dental elements examined indicate 
American Indian ancestry for eight individuals. Based on the 
information available and the results of consultation, cultural 
affiliation for the eight individuals of American Indian ancestry is 
reasonably identified by the geographical location of the cemetery 
described in this notice. Specifically, southern Indiana is known to 
have been occupied by the people of the Miami and Peoria Tribes before 
their removal from Indiana in the early and mid-19th century. 
Historical and ethnographic documents also place the Delaware and 
Shawnee in southern Indiana during the early historic periods (16th 
through 18th centuries) and they were present elsewhere in Indiana 
until their removal in the early 19th century.
    There were no known potentially hazardous substances used to treat 
any of the human remains or associated funerary objects.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical 
location of the human remains and associated funerary objects described 
in this notice.

Determinations

    The City of Evansville Water and Sewer Utility has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of eight individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The six objects described in this notice are reasonably 
believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual 
human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite 
or ceremony.
     There is a reasonable connection between the human remains 
and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the 
Delaware Tribe of Indians; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Peoria Tribe of 
Indians of Oklahoma; and the Shawnee Tribe.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
authorized representative identified in this notice under 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 June 24, 2024. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the City of 
Evansville Water and Sewer Utility 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 City of Evansville Water and 
Sewer Utility 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 10.10.

    Dated: May 15, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-11451 Filed 5-23-24; 8:45 am]
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