[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 3, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71391-71392]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-19678]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038620; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Hartwick College 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. The remains were recovered from Oneonta, 
NY, and Hyndesville, NY, respectively.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after October 3, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Quentin Lewis, Yager Museum, Hartwick College, 1 
Hartwick Drive, Oneonta, NY 13820, telephone (607) 431-4481, 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 
Hartwick College, 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, two individuals have been reasonably identified. In 1923, Adrian 
G. Blanchard of Oneonta uncovered a burial in Oneonta, NY, in an area 
known as the Oneonta Plains, between the Susquehanna River and the 
current railroad tracks along what is today Highway 205. This burial 
consisted of fragmentary human remains of one or more individuals and 
84 associated funerary objects. The 84 associated funerary objects 
consist of 29 stone tools, three gorgets, one antler flaker, 13 sherds 
of pottery, one lot of fragments of mica schist, one tubular shell 
bead, one hammered copper pendant, five fish vertebrae beads, and 30 
rolled copper beads. These materials were given or sold to Willard 
Yager before 1929, and have been in Hartwick College's possession since 
that time.
    In 1971, the remains of one individual were uncovered by Hartwick 
College Professor Bruce Raemsch near Hyndsville, NY as part of an 
archaeological field school at the Pleasant Brooke locus of the Timlin 
site. One associated funerary object was also uncovered. Excavated from 
disturbed fill near a state highway, Raemsch was told by local 
informants that highway construction crews had uncovered a Native 
burial some decades prior and

[[Page 71392]]

removed remains and associated artifacts, and that the remains found by 
Raemsch were likely from that burial. These remains were sent to the 
radiocarbon lab at University of California, Riverside in 1971 for 
testing, though it is not clear from records whether testing was 
actually completed. This individual has remained at Riverside since 
that time. The associated funerary object consists of a soil sample 
taken from the disturbed fill adjacent to the remains, which was 
likewise sent to Riverside, California.

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

    Hartwick College has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 85 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 Saint 
Regis Mohawk 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 October 3, 2024. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, Hartwick College 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. Hartwick College 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: August 26, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-19678 Filed 8-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P