[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 183 (Friday, September 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77186-77187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21545]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038745; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Disposition: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Missouri Basin Region, Nebraska-Kansas Area 
Office, McCook, NE

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Reclamation, Nebraska-Kansas Area Office (Reclamation Nebraska-
Kansas Area Office) intends to carry out the disposition of human 
remains and associated funerary objects removed from Federal or Tribal 
lands to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization with priority for disposition in this notice.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains and cultural items in this 
notice may occur on or after October 21, 2024. If no claim for 
disposition is received by September 22, 2025, the human remains and 
cultural items in this notice will become unclaimed human remains and 
cultural items.

ADDRESSES: Send written claims for disposition of the human remains and 
cultural items identified in this notice to Catherine Griffin, Bureau 
of Reclamation, Nebraska-Kansas Area Office, 1706 West 3rd Street, 
McCook, NE 69001, telephone (308) 345-8324, 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 
Reclamation Nebraska-Kansas Area Office, and additional information on 
the human remains and cultural items in this notice, including the 
results of consultation, can be found in the related records. The 
National Park Service is not responsible for the identifications in 
this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Based on the information available, human remains representing, at 
least, 14 individuals have been reasonably identified. The 10 
associated funerary objects are one lot of bracelets, three lots of 
ceramic sherds, one lot of chipped stone debitage, two stone scraper 
tools, one stone tool fragment, one projectile point fragment, and one 
lot of animal bone. During a period between 1992 to 2020, the human 
remains and associated funerary objects were discovered and removed 
from federal lands in Jewell, Mitchell, and Norton Counties, KS, and 
Frontier and Greeley Counties, NE.

Determinations

    The Reclamation Nebraska-Kansas Area Office has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 14 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 10 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.
     The Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Three Affiliated Tribes of 
the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; and the Wichita and 
Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), Oklahoma have 
priority for disposition of the human remains and cultural items 
described in this notice.

Claims for Disposition

    Written claims for disposition of the human remains and cultural 
items in this notice must be sent to the appropriate official 
identified in this notice under ADDRESSES. If no claim for disposition 
is received by September 22, 2025, the human remains and cultural items 
in this notice will become unclaimed human remains and cultural items. 
Claims for disposition may be submitted by:

[[Page 77187]]

    1. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization 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 they have priority for disposition.
    Disposition of the human remains and cultural items in this notice 
may occur on or after October 21, 2024. If competing claims for 
disposition are received, the Reclamation Nebraska-Kansas Area Office 
must determine the most appropriate claimant prior to disposition. 
Requests for joint disposition of the human remains and cultural items 
are considered a single request and not competing requests. The 
Reclamation Nebraska-Kansas Area Office is responsible for sending a 
copy of this notice to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, and 
Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and to any 
other consulting parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3002, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.7.

    Dated: September 12, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-21545 Filed 9-19-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P