[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 49191]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12709]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038053; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand 
Rapids, MI

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 Grand Rapids Public Museum 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 July 11, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Alex Forist, 272 Pearl Street NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504, 
telephone (616) 929-1809, 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 
Grand Rapids Public Museum, 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, one individual has been reasonably identified. The three 
associated funerary objects are an ax head, steel, and flint. At an 
unknown date, the related ancestral remains and associated funerary 
objects were found wrapped in birch bark on Sugar Island about 18 miles 
from Sault Ste. Marie, Chippewa County, MI by Charles Bradshaw during a 
house excavation. At an unknown date, they were acquired by Isaac 
Lemon. In 1907, they were donated to the Kent Scientific Museum (now 
the Grand Rapids Public Museum).

Cultural Affiliation

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

Determinations

    The Grand Rapids Public Museum has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     The three 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 Bay 
Mills Indian Community, Michigan and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of 
Chippewa Indians, Michigan.

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 July 11, 2024. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the Grand Rapids 
Public Museum 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 Grand Rapids Public Museum 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 31, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-12709 Filed 6-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P