2024-04665. Notice of Inventory Completion: New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, & Historic Preservation, Waterford, NY

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, & Historic Preservation (NYOPRHP) 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 Alton, Madison County, IL.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after April 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Jessica Vavrasek, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, Peebles Island State Park, P.O. Box 189, Waterford, NY 12188–0189, 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 NYOPRHP. 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 NYOPRHP.

Description

In 1876, human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were removed from Alton in Madison County, IL, by Reverend Robert West. Artifacts recovered from this informal excavation were later transferred to William Letchworth at an unknown point. The 29 associated funerary objects are 27 bones (identified as belonging to a white-tailed deer that represent at least four adults and two immature deer), one whale cervical vertebral body, and one black stone/ceramic pipe stem fragment (approx.10mm in length).

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 information, archeological information, and geographical information.

Determinations

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

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of six individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The 29 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 Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.

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 April 5, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the NYOPRHP 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 NYOPRHP 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 27, 2024.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.