2023-16481. Notice of Inventory Completion: Field Museum, Chicago, IL

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Field Museum 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 Bartow County, GA.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after September 5, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Helen Robbins, Field Museum, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605–2496, 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 Field Museum. 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 Field Museum.

Description

Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were removed from Bartow County, GA. In 1926, William K. Moorehead removed human remains and associated funerary objects from Etowah Mounds, and possibly a site a little south of Etowah Mounds. The Field Museum purchased the human remains and funerary objects from Moorehead in 1926. The human remains belong to an infant and a fetus, both of unknown sex. The two associated funerary objects are one lot consisting of shell beads and one ceramic pot.

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, and linguistic.

Determinations

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

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
• 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.
• 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 Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Kialegee Tribal Town; Poarch Band of Creek Indians; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; and the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town.

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 September 5, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Field Museum 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 Field Museum 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 10.9, 10.10, and 10.14.

Dated: July 26, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.