[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 133 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56896-56897]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-15201]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038223; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Louisiana State University, 
Museum of Natural Science, Baton Rouge, LA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Louisiana State University, Museum of 
Natural Science (LSUMNS) 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.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after August 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Irene Mart[iacute] Gil, LSU Museum of Natural Science, 
119 Foster Hall, LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, telephone (225) 578-2855, 
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 
LSUMNS, 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, 19 individuals have been reasonably identified. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    From the Toups Place site (16LF001, located on the east bank of 
West Fork Bayou L'Ours in Lafourche Parish, LA), human remains 
representing, at a minimum, one adult individual, were removed as part 
of a surface collection by Tommy Ryan in 1984. The burial could be 
Troyville, Coles Creek, or Plaquemine/Mississippian.
    From the South Point site (16OR12, located on the south shore of 
Lake Pontchartrain in Orleans Parish, LA) human remains representing, 
at a minimum, two adult individuals, were removed in two episodes of 
surface collection by Sherwood Gagliano, probably between 1963 and 
1965. The burials could be Tchefuncte, Troyville, Coles Creek, or 
Mississippian.
    From the Bayou Biloxi site (16SB53, located at the junction of 
Bayou Biloxi and Southwest Branch in St. Bernard Parish, LA), human 
remains representing, at a minimum, one individual, were removed by 
Robert Treadwell during a surface collection on August 23, 1952, in the 
context of McIntire's Prehistoric Indian Settlements of the Changing 
Mississippi River Delta survey project. The burial is considered Coles 
Creek-Plaquemine, and Mississippian.
    From the Bayou La Loutre site (16SB68, located west of Bayou La 
Loutre in St. Bernard Parish, LA), human remains representing, at a 
minimum, two adult individuals, were removed by Robert Neuman during a 
surface collection in 1976. The burial is considered Coles Creek or 
Mississippian.
    From the 16SB103 site (this site, northwest of ``Sundown Island,'' 
in St. Bernard Parish, LA, was never given a name), human remains 
representing, at a minimum, three adult individuals, were removed by 
Eric Lacefield in 1980 and by Robert Neuman, Phillip ``Duke'' Rivet, 
Kathleen Byrd, and Eric Lacefield in 1984 in surface collections. The 
burials are considered Coles Creek or Mississippian.
    From the 16SC00 site (this site, located in the Lake Salvador area, 
in St. Charles Parish, LA, was never given a name), human remains 
representing, at a minimum, two individuals were removed by Forest 
Travirca in the 1970s. Mr. Travirca donated the materials from these 
surface collections to the LSUMNS in 1993. The individuals included one 
adult and one subadult, possibly a teenager. The burials are considered 
``Prehistoric Unknown'' and Plaquemine/Mississippian.
    From the Bois Chactas site (16SC4, located on the northwestern 
shore of Lake Salvador, in St. Bernard Parish, LA) human remains 
representing, at a minimum, three individuals, were removed by Robert 
Neuman during a surface collection in 1969. The collection included two 
adults and one subadult. The burials are considered Coles Creek, 
Plaquemine, and/or Mississippian.
    From the Chaudiere Casse site (16SC8, located on the southeastern 
side of Lake Salvador in St. Charles Parish, LA), human remains 
representing, at a minimum, one adult individual, were removed by 
Forest Travirca during a surface collection in the 1970s. Mr. Travirca 
donated his collection from the site to the LSUMNS in 1994. The burials 
are considered Coles Creek, Plaquemine, and/or Mississippian.
    From the Bayou Trepagnier site (16SC10, located on the west bank of 
Bayou Trepagnier in St. Charles Parish, LA), human remains, 
representing at a minimum, one individual, were removed by Sherwood 
Gagliano and Roger Saucier during a surface collection in 1951. The 
burials are considered Tchefuncte, Marksville, and possibly 
Mississippian.
    From the Bayou Lacombe site (16ST30, located on the east bank of 
Bayou Lacombe in St. Tammany Parish, LA), human remains, representing, 
at a minimum, one adult individual, were removed in two surface 
collection episodes: the first in 1968, probably by Roger Saucier; the 
second by Phillip Rivet in 1974. The burials are considered Tchefuncte, 
Marksville, or Mississippian.
    From the Somerset Mound (16TE7, also LMS 24-L-2, located on a 
natural levee of the Mississippi River in Tensas Parish, LA), human 
remains representing, at a minimum, two adult individuals, were removed 
by Robert Neuman, George Percy, and Fred (?) Smith in 1969 during a 
surface collection. The burials are considered Plaquemine or Late 
Mississippian.
    The prehistoric material, including Tchefuncte, Troyville, Coles 
Creek, Plaquemine, and ``unknown,'' removed from the sites above is 
culturally affiliated with the Chitimacha, while the Mississippian 
material is most likely culturally affiliated with the Choctaw.

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 described in this 
notice.

Determinations

    The LSUMNS has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 19 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     There is a reasonable connection between the human remains 
described in this notice and the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana; Jena 
Band of Choctaw Indians; Mississippi Band of Choctaw

[[Page 56897]]

Indians; and The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after August 12, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, LSUMNS 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. The LSUMNS 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: June 26, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-15201 Filed 7-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P