2024-11450. Notice of Inventory Completion: The Fort Ticonderoga Association, Ticonderoga, NY

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), The Fort Ticonderoga Association 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 Essex County, NY.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or after June 24, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Margaret Staudter, The Fort Ticonderoga Association, 30 Fort Ti Rd, Ticonderoga, NY 12883, 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 Fort Ticonderoga Association, and additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

Based on the information available, human remains representing, at least, one individual have been reasonably identified. In September 1936, members of the Champlain Valley Archaeology Society led an excavation of a rock shelter (Ticonderoga Rock Shelter #2) near “Sentinel Rock”, a point on the Ticonderoga peninsula, in Essex County, New York. Individuals and their associated funerary objects were removed during the excavations and were housed at Fort Ticonderoga. In 1994, the presence of three individuals and their associated funerary objects were confirmed by an osteologist. A Notice of Inventory Completion describing these individuals and their associated funerary objects was published in the Federal Register in January 2024. In April 2024, one additional individual was identified.

Cultural Affiliation

Based on the information available and the results of consultation, cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical location and acquisition history of the human remains described in this notice.

Determinations

The Fort Ticonderoga Association has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
• There is a reasonable connection between the human remains described in this notice and the Cayuga Nation; Oneida Indian Nation; Oneida Nation; Onondaga Nation; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe; Seneca Nation of Indians; Seneca-Cayuga Nation; Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin; Tonawanda Band of Seneca; and the Tuscarora Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under 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 June 24, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Fort Ticonderoga Association 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 Fort Ticonderoga Association 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 10.10.

Dated: May 15, 2024.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.