2023-28928. Notice of Inventory Completion: Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Gilcrease 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 Tulsa County, OK.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after February 2, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Laura Bryant, Gilcrease Museum, 800 S Tucker Dr., Tulsa, OK 74104, 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 Gilcrease 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 Gilcrease Museum.

Description

Human remains representing, at minimum, 14 individuals were removed from Tulsa County, OK, by Frank Soday, an avocational archaeologist, in 1971. The Thomas Gilcrease Foundation purchased Soday's collection in 1982. The 176 associated funerary objects are 94 lots of lithic tools, four lots of sherds, 35 lots of nails and metal fasteners and belt buckles, seven lots of glass jar or bottle fragments, 11 lots of porcelain fragments and dishes, three lots of buttons, four lots of metal utensils, one lot of wood fragments, one lot of bullets, two lots of shell, seven lots of faunal remains, two lots of marbles, two lots of beads, one lot of textile fragments, one pipe, and one tin cup.

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, geographical information, historical information, kinship, and other relevant information.

Lineal Descent

The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice are connected to an identifiable individual whose descendants can be traced directly and without interruption by means of a traditional kinship system or by the common law system of descendance. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological information, geographical information, historical information, kinship, and other relevant information.

Determinations

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

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 14 individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The 176 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 Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

• There is a relationship between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and lineal descendants.

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 February 2, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Gilcrease 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 Gilcrease Museum is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe and the lineal descendants 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: December 20, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.