Notice2025-05601
Notice of Inventory Completion: Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK
Primary source
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Published
April 2, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (SNOMNH) 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 62 (Wednesday, April 2, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 2, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14467-14468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05601]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039805; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of
Natural History, Norman, OK
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural
History (SNOMNH) 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.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after May 2, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Dr. Marc Levine, Associate Curator of Archaeology, Sam Noble
Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, 2401
Chautauqua Avenue, Norman, OK 73072-7029, telephone (405) 325-1994,
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#87eaebe2f1eee9e2c7e8f2a9e2e3f2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e18c8d8497888f84a18e94cf848594">[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 the
SNOMNH, and
[[Page 14468]]
additional information on the determinations in this notice, including
the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related
records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, 268 individuals were removed
from the Akers site (34Lf32) in LeFlore County, OK. This site was
excavated by the Works Progress Administration in 1941 and transferred
to the Museum the same year. The human remains include 68 adult
females, 43 adult males, 19 adolescents, 35 children, four infants, 44
adult probable females, 19 adult probable males, 33 adults for whom sex
could not be determined, and three individuals for whom age and sex
could not be determined. No known individuals were identified. The 313
associated funerary objects are eight complete ceramic vessels, 11
ceramic vessel fragments, 30 bags of potsherds, 63 stone projectile
points, six manos, six boatstones, three stone celts, two stone knives,
two paintstones, one stone gorget, one ceramic conical miniature bowl,
one stone atlatl weight, seven worked stones, five unmodified stones,
six bone awls, two bags of awl fragments, three bags of bone beads,
three bone hair pins, one bag of animal tooth pendants, 11 bags of
worked bone, eight bags of deer antler fragments, one partial dog
skeleton, three bags of turtle shell fragments, two bags of beaver
teeth, one bag of dog teeth, 104 bags of animal bone, five bags of
worked shell, three bags of shell beads, two worked conch shells, one
shell pendant, one unmodified conch shell, seven bags of shell
fragments, one burned wood fragment, one bag of wood post fragments,
and one pecan shell. The human remains and associated funerary objects
from site 34Lf32 were interred during the Fort Coffee phase (A.D. 1450-
1600).
Human remains representing, at least, 16 individuals were removed
from the Henry Heflin II site (34Lf13) in LeFlore County, OK. This site
was excavated by the Works Progress Administration in 1941 and
transferred to the Museum the same year. The human remains include
three adult females, five adult males, one child, four probable adult
females, two probable adult males, and one adult for whom sex could not
be determined. The 12 associated funerary objects are four stone
projectile points, two bags of paintstones, one worked stone, one
worked animal bone, one bag of deer antler fragments, one animal tooth,
and two bags of animal bone fragments.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available
about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in
this notice.
Determinations
The SNOMNH has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 284 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 325 objects described in this notice are reasonably
believed to have been placed intentionally 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 connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Caddo
Nation of Oklahoma and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita,
Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
authorized representative identified in this notice under 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after May 2, 2025. If
competing requests for repatriation are received, the SNOMNH 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 SNOMNH is responsible for sending a copy of this notice
to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in
this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: March 21, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-05601 Filed 4-1-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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