Notice2022-22336
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 14, 2022
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
The University of Michigan 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 a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or 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 the University of Michigan. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 198 (Friday, October 14, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 198 (Friday, October 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62445-62446]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-22336]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034711; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, MI
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The University of Michigan 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 a cultural affiliation between the human
remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes
or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or 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 the University of Michigan. If no additional requestors come
forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated
funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native
Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.
DATES: Lineal descendants or 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 the University of Michigan at
[[Page 62446]]
the address in this notice by November 14, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Ben Secunda, NAGPRA Project
Manager, University of Michigan, Office of Research, 3003 South State
Street, First Floor, Wolverine Tower, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1274,
telephone (734) 764-1185, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5436273137213a30351421393d373c7a313021"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e587968086908b8184a590888c868dcb808190">[email protected]</span></a>.
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 the University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. The human remains and associated funerary
objects were removed from the Moccasin Bluff site (20BE08) in Berrien
County, MI.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). 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 the
University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology (UMMAA)
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Citizen
Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Forest County Potawatomi Community,
Wisconsin; Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-she-
wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma;
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan (previously listed
as Huron Potawatomi, Inc.); Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians,
Michigan and Indiana; and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
(previously listed as Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, Kansas)
(hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').
History and Description of the Remains
In 1948, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual
were removed from the Moccasin Bluff site (20BE08) in Berrien County,
MI, by UMMAA archeologist Hale Smith. Smith uncovered three burials
while excavating a trench at the multi-component site. All the
individuals were found buried in an extended position and oriented in
the same direction. According to a publication, Smith identified three
burials at the site, but he presumably only excavated one of the
burials, which he then brought to the Museum. The date range for this
burial is A.D. 1400-1820, based on the extended burial treatment, with
individuals facing the same direction, and the associated funerary
objects. All the human remains listed in this notice were excavated by
Smith in 1948. The associated funerary objects came from excavations by
Smith in 1948; Joseph Birdsell, who excavated the site in 1938, and
donated some of the funerary objects he recovered to the UMMAA in 1947;
and Arthur Jelinek, who excavated the site in 1961. The human remains
are of one child <=13 years old, of indeterminate sex. No known
individual was identified. The nine associated funerary objects are one
lot of earthenware vessel sections; four lots of earthenware body
sherds; one lot of lithic flakes; one lot of earthenware body sherds
and small sherd crumb; one lot of lithics, ceramic sherds, and unworked
faunal bone fragments; and one lot of reconstructed sections of an
earthenware vessel including rim and body sherds.
The human remains have been determined to be Native American based
on mortuary treatment, diagnostic artifacts, and archeological context.
A relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably traced
between the Native American human remains from this site and the
Potawatomi and Miami, based on archeological and historical records
that indicate both Tribes had a predominant presence in the St. Joseph
River Valley from the time of first contact with the French through the
early-1800s. Both Tribes were known to have had close and friendly
relations in this area. In the early-1800s, the Potawatomi leader
Moccasin presided over a village in the immediate vicinity of the site
(in present-day Buchanan, MI) on a bluff that now bears his name.
Determinations Made by the University of Michigan
Officials of the University of Michigan have determined that:
<bullet> 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.
<bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the nine 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.
<bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native
American human remains and associated funerary objects and The Tribes.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Lineal descendants or 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 Dr. Ben Secunda, NAGPRA Project Manager,
University of Michigan, Office of Research, 3003 South State Street,
First Floor, Wolverine Tower, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1274, telephone (734)
764-1185, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5f3d2c3a3c2a313b3e1f2a32363c37713a3b2a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7c1e0f191f0912181d3c0911151f1452191809">[email protected]</span></a>, by November 14, 2022. 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 University of Michigan is responsible for notifying The Tribes
that this notice has been published.
Dated: October 5, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-22336 Filed 10-13-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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