2020-16780. Notice of Inventory Completion: Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex, (Formerly Baylor University's Strecker Museum; Formerly Baylor University Museum), Waco, TX

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex (formerly Baylor University's Strecker Museum; formerly Baylor University Museum) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES:

Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request with information in support of the request to Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex at the address in this notice by September 2, 2020.

ADDRESSES:

Anita L. Benedict, Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex, One Bear Place #97154, Waco, TX 76798-7154, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects under the control of Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex, Waco, TX. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Madison Parish, LA.

This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 43 CFR 10.11(d). The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (hereafter referred to as “The Consulted Tribes”).

An invitation to consult was extended to the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation; Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Kialegee Tribal Town; Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Poarch Band of Creeks (previously listed as Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama); Quapaw Nation (previously listed as The Quapaw Tribe of Indians); Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously listed as Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations)); The Chickasaw Nation; The Osage Nation (previously listed as Osage Tribe); The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (hereafter referred to as “The Invited Tribes”).

History and Description of the Remains

Sometime prior to 1909, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from Mound, Madison Parish, LA. Mound was named for an American Indian mound that stood at the original town site. In 1909, the presumed collector, a J.M. Carter, donated this collection to Baylor University. J.M. Carter might be James Michelle Carter (1849-1928), whose father was a Baylor University Trustee after the Civil War.

In 2003, the human remains and associated funerary objects were located in a cigar box that lay under a whale skull exhibit. The human remains were labeled with the numbers 4047 and 4359 through 4389. Catalog number 4047 corresponds to an entry in the Strecker Catalog Book No. 3, which reads “4047 . . .. Bones & Other Materials from Mound, Louisiana J.M. Carter.” The numbers 4359 through 4389 do not relate to any currently known catalog. As number 4047 had been reused, new catalog numbers were assigned to the human remains and associated funerary objects. The human remains (AR 20806) include a phalange, limb bone, talus, calcaneus fragment, and two mandible fragments with teeth. No known individual was identified. The two associated funerary objects (AR 20849) are one lot of animal bones and one pottery sherd.

Determinations Made by Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex

Officials of Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex have determined that:

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described in this notice are Native American based on archeological context.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the two 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.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian Tribe.
• According to other authoritative government sources, the land from which the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were removed is the aboriginal land of the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (hereafter referred to as “The Tribes”).
• Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects may be to The Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request with information in support of the request to Anita L. Benedict, Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex, One Bear Place #97154, Waco, TX 76798-7154, telephone [phone], email [e-mail], by September 2, 2020. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.

The Baylor University's Mayborn Museum Complex is responsible for notifying The Consulted Tribes and The Invited Tribes that this notice has been published.

Dated: July 6, 2020.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.