Notice2023-21388
Notice of Inventory Completion: Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
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
September 29, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Kansas State University 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 Platte County, MO.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 188 (Friday, September 29, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 188 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67351-67352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21388]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036673; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Kansas State University,
Manhattan, KS
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Kansas State University 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 Platte County, MO.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after October 30, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Megan Williamson, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and
Social Work, Kansas State University, 204 Waters Hall, 1603 Old Claflin
Place, Manhattan, KS 66506-4003, telephone (785) 532-6005, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b0ddc7d9dcdcd9d181f0dbc3c59ed5d4c5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="036e746a6f6f6a6232436870762d666776">[email protected]</span></a>.
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 Kansas
State University. 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 Kansas State
University.
Description.
Human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were
removed from the Cochran Mound, 23PL86, in Platte County, KS. The
Cochran Mound is a burial mound on private land. It occupies a portion
of the highest point of the left (east) bluff of the Missouri River,
just upstream from the confluence of Brush Creek with the river. The
mound measures 102 feet long (north-south) by 86 feet wide (east-
west), and it contains a stone vault measuring 8.75 feet square.
Excavation of the Cochran Mound was conducted in June of 1971 by staff
and students of the Kansas Archaeological Field School, under the
direction of Dr. Patricia J. O'Brien of Kansas State University.
Excavation showed that it had been severely looted by an unknown person
or persons at an unknown time in the past. Collections were processed
and cataloged by field school students and then removed to the
archeology laboratory at Kansas State University for analysis,
reporting, and curation. They have remained in the university's
possession since that time. The human remains are commingled and are
highly fragmented. Some of the bones were burnt, suggesting that
cremation had occurred. As some of the artifacts also show heat
fractures, they may have been with the bodies at the time of cremation.
The human remains belong to four adults, one juvenile, and one infant.
One of the adults is female and another adult was at least 45 years of
age or older at the time of death. The 17 associated funerary objects
are one projectile point, four biface fragments, one retouched flake,
five bullets (historic), one hematite stone, one shell bead, one lot
consisting of gastropod shells, two charcoal samples, and one lot
consisting of stone debitage (approximately 38 pieces).
Human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were
removed from the Cogan Mounds, 23PL125, in Platte County, MO. The Cogan
Mounds are comprised of two burial mounds on private land. Mound 1
measures about five meters in diameter and was made of various sized
limestone slabs mixed with dirt. It contained the remains of a
disturbed limestone vault measuring 1.78 meters long on the north side
and 2.20 meters on the west side (the east and south sides were
sufficiently damaged as to preclude measurement). No entrance was
found. The presence of Euromerican debris indicated prior
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disturbance. Mound 2 was about 35 meters to the southeast of Mound 1.
It contained an irregular rectangular limestone vault measuring 2.77
meters long on the north side, 2.83 meters long on the west side, and
3.11 meters long on the east side. The 0.88-meter-wide entrance was on
the south side, 0.84 meter from the west wall and 0.82 meter from the
east wall. The vault was intact, but the presence of Euromerican debris
indicated it had been looted at an unknown time in the past. Excavation
of the Cogan Mounds was conducted in June and July of 1973 by staff and
students from the Kansas Archaeological Field School, under the
direction of Dr. Patricia J. O'Brien from Kansas State University.
Collections were processed and cataloged by field school students and
then removed to the archeology laboratory at Kansas State University
for analysis, reporting, and curation. They have remained in the
university's possession since that time. Fragmentary human remains
belonging to one female adult, two adults of indeterminate sex, one
child and one six-month-old infant were removed from Mound 1. Some of
the bones are burnt, suggesting that cremation had occurred.
Fragmentary human remains belonging to an adult of indeterminate sex
were removed from Mound 2. Several pieces of bone show green copper
staining. Of the 39 associated funerary objects, 23 are historic. The
39 associated funerary objects are eight metal nail fragments, one iron
stake, one metal bridle ring, one bullet casing, two glass buttons, one
ceramic fragment, nine glass and crockery fragments, one hematite
stone, one projectile point, one lot consisting of stone debitage
(approximately 83 pieces), one stone core, one fossil, one animal bone
fragment, two gastropod shells, one ceramic sherd, three seeds, two
charcoal samples, and two rocks.
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: geographical and historical.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, Kansas State University has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 12 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 56 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> 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 Iowa Tribe of Kansas and
Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Otoe-
Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Indians of
Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in
Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox Tribe of the
Mississippi in Iowa; and The Osage Nation.
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 October 30, 2023.
If competing requests for repatriation are received, Kansas State
University 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. Kansas State University 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: September 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-21388 Filed 9-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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