2024-02552. Notice of Inventory Completion: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Ohio History Connection 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 Fulton, Henry, and Williams Counties, Ohio.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after March 11, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Nekole Alligood, NAGPRA Specialist, Ohio History Connection, 800 E 17th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211, 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 Ohio History Connection. 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 Ohio History Connection.

Description

The following were recovered from three counties in northwest Ohio, Fulton, Henry, and Williams Counties.

33 FU 5, Patyi-Dowling Site, Fulton Township, Fulton County, Ohio. There are two individuals who were exhumed by Robert Cufr and reported by David Stothers with the University of Toledo in 1972. The remains were retained by the Firelands Archaeological Research Center and donated by them to the Ohio History Connection in 2021. There are three associated funerary objects included; one coral or shell piece with yellowish staining and two small animal long bone fragments.

33 FU 101, Fish Site, Royalton Township, Fulton County, Ohio. One adult human tooth was found at this site. The 70 associated funerary objects consist of several components ranging from the Early Archaic to the Late Woodland period. Specific provenience of the objects is unknown, they were surface finds collected at the same location.

Pioneer, Madison Township, Williams County, Ohio. This one individual was received from the Lucas County Coroner's Office in 2020 and was brought to Ohio History Connection in 2021.

33 HY 127, Brown Site No. 1, Damascus Township, Henry County, Ohio. There are two individuals who were likely exhumed in the early 1980s from a site along the Maumee River bank and were donated to the Firelands Archaeological Research Center who then donated them to the Ohio History Connection in 2021. There are eight lots of various affiliated objects consisting of ceramic sherds, faunal remains, shell fragments, debitage and soil.

Ritter Park, Napoleon Township, Henry County, Ohio. The two individuals were exhumed from the Maumee River bank. The Lucas County Coroner's Office transferred them to Ohio History Connection in 2019.

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: archeological information, geographical information, and indigenous knowledge from the consulting Indian Tribes.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the Ohio History Connection has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of eight individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The 81 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 Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan; Cayuga Nation; Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana; Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan; Kaw Nation, Oklahoma; Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan; Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin; Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan; Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan; Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana; Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota (Six component reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; Grand Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth Band); Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Oneida Indian Nation; Oneida Nation; Onondaga Nation; Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota; Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe; Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Seneca Nation of Indians; Seneca-Cayuga Nation; Shawnee Tribe; Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin; St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Tonawanda Band of Seneca; Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota; Tuscarora Nation; and the Wyandotte Nation.

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 11, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Ohio History Connection 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 Ohio History Connection 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 on or after 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 1, 2024.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.