2023-03238. Notice of Inventory Completion: Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Field Museum of Natural History has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and any Indian Tribe. The human remains were removed from an unknown location in Montana.

DATES:

Disposition of the human remains in this notice may occur on or after March 17, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Helen Robbins, Repatriation Director, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, telephone [phone], 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 Field Museum. 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 Field Museum.

Description

Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from an unknown location in Montana. Sometime prior to December 1936, the mummified remains of an infant of unknown sex and age were removed from a tree burial. The human remains were donated by the Chicago Historical Society to the Field Museum in 1936. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present. A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Field Museum staff in consultation with representatives of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, which requested disposition of the human remains.

Aboriginal Land

The human remains in this notice were removed from a known geographic location. This location is the aboriginal land of one or more Indian Tribes. The following information was used to identify the aboriginal land: a treaty and an Act of Congress.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, the Field Museum has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
• No relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably traced between the human remains and any Indian Tribe.
• The human remains described in this notice were removed from the aboriginal land of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana; Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana; Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana; Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation; Crow Tribe of Montana; Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana; Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana; and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana.

Requests for Disposition

Written requests for disposition of the human remains in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES . Requests for disposition may be submitted by:

1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes 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, or who shows that the requestor is an aboriginal land Indian Tribe.

Disposition of the human remains described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after March 17, 2023. If competing requests for disposition are received, the Field Museum must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to disposition. Requests for joint disposition of the human remains are considered a single request and not competing requests. The Field Museum is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes 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 and § 10.11.

Dated: February 8, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.