2024-03799. Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Department of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University (NIU Department of Anthropology) 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 human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from an unknown county, IL, and Marshall County, IL.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after March 27, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Dr. Leila Porter, Chair, Department of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University, 1425 W Lincoln Hwy., DeKalb, IL 60115, 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 NIU Department of Anthropology. 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 NIU Department of Anthropology.

Description

In 1976, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were donated to the NIU Department of Anthropology and were identified by the donor as being from an unknown county, IL. It is not known how or when the donor acquired the human remains, but the donor was the owner of antique stores in Aurora, IL, and Geneva, IL. No associated funerary objects are present.

In fall 1975, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from Hopewell Estates in Marshall County, IL. A 2010 collections inventory by NIU Department of Anthropology staff noted these human remains and associated funerary objects in an envelope marked with collection date and site information, but there is no earlier record or information on how they came to be in the NIU Department of Anthropology collections or who originally collected them. The six associated funerary objects are one red ceramic sherd and five lithic fragments.

Cultural Affiliation

The human remains and associated funerary objects 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: anthropological, archeological, geographical, historical information, and oral tradition.

Determinations

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

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The six objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.

• There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota (Fond du Lac Band); Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan; Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Shawnee Tribe; and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 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 and associated funerary objects in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after March 27, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the NIU Department of Anthropology 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. The NIU Department of Anthropology is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.

This notice was submitted before the effective date of the revised regulations (88 FR 86452, December 13, 2023, effective January 12, 2024). As the notice conforms to the mandatory format of the Federal Register and includes the required information, the National Park Service is publishing this notice as submitted.

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

Dated: February 16, 2024.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.