2023-01839. Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Us, San Diego, CA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Museum of Us 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. The human remains were removed from Tunica County, MS.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or after March 1, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Carmen Mosley, NAGPRA Repatriation Manager, Museum of Us, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101, telephone [phone] Ext. 42, email [e-mail].

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 Museum of Us. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by the Museum of Us.

Description

In 1911, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from Commerce in Tunica County, MS, by Clarence B. Moore. Soon thereafter, Clarence B. Moore donated the human remains to the Smithsonian Institution. In 1914 or 1915, the Smithsonian Institution sent these human remains, along with a large collection of human and primate skeletal remains and casts, to the San Diego Museum (now the Museum of Us) for the Aleš Hrdlička-curated The Science of Man exhibition at the 1915 Panama California Exposition. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.

Cultural Affiliation

The human remains in this notice are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: geographical and historical information.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the Museum of Us has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
• There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice and The Chickasaw Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 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 March 1, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Museum of Us 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 Museum of Us is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, and 10.14.

Dated: January 18, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.