[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12563-12564]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04361]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039472; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 
Oshkosh, WI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

[[Page 12564]]


ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UWO) 
has completed an inventory of associated funerary objects and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the associated 
funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the associated funerary objects in this notice 
may occur on or after April 17, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Adrienne Frie, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, 800 Algoma 
Blvd., Oshkosh, WI 54901, telephone (920) 424-1365, 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 UWO, 
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

    A single box containing biface fragments was discovered at the 
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh with documentation that read, 
``Riverside Site. 20-ME-1 Menominee County, Michigan. 7 Horstone biface 
fragment. Gift from Robert Hruska. Date of donation unknown. No 
accession number.'' The Riverside Site (20-ME-0001) was excavated 
jointly by the Oshkosh Public Museum (OPM) and Milwaukee Public Museum 
(MPM) between 1961 and 1963. The excavation was led by Robert Hruska of 
OPM and Robert Ritzenthaler of MPM. Most of the site collections were 
donated to the MPM by the OPM on September 26, 1968. The Riverside 
Cemetery site has evidence of occupation dating from the Late Archaic 
(2550-300 B.C.) through the Late Woodland Period (A.D. 500-1100). The 
bifaces held by UWO, known as Hornstone Bifaces, were an extremely 
common funerary object at the Riverside Site. Large caches of these 
bifaces were recorded by Hruska in his excavations. The seven 
associated funerary objects are seven chipped-stone biface fragments.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical 
location, expert opinion, oral tradition, and archaeological evidence 
of the associated funerary objects described in this notice.

Determinations

    UWO has determined that:
     The seven 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 associated 
funerary objects described in this notice and the Menominee Indian 
Tribe of Wisconsin.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the 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 associated funerary objects in this notice to a 
requestor may occur on or after April 17, 2025. If competing requests 
for repatriation are received, UWO must determine the most appropriate 
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the 
associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not 
competing requests. UWO 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: February 4, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-04361 Filed 3-17-25; 8:45 am]
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