Notice2025-08771
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, Idaho Falls, ID
Primary source
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Published
May 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 94 (Friday, May 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 94 (Friday, May 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 21065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-08771]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040145; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho
Operations Office, Idaho Falls, ID
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 U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho
Operations Office has completed an inventory of human remains and has
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human
remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this
notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or
after June 16, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Michael McAnulty, Deputy Manager,
Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, 1955 Fremont Avenue, MS-
1203, Idaho Falls, ID 83415, telephone (208) 526-5859, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0d606e6c63786160674d646923696268236a627b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="157876747b6079787f557c713b717a703b727a63">[email protected]</span></a> and Mr. R. Douglas Herzog, National Environmental
Policy Act Compliance Officer, Department of Energy, Idaho Operations
Office, 1955 Fremont Avenue, MS-1216, Idaho Falls, ID 83415, telephone
(208) 244-9465, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4f272a3d3520283d2b0f262b612b202a61282039"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8be3eef9f1e4ecf9efcbe2efa5efe4eea5ece4fd">[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
Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office and additional
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results
of consultation, can be found in its 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, one individual have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. The remains are
curated in the Idaho Museum of Natural History's Earl H. Swanson
Archaeological Repository located at Idaho State University in
Pocatello, Idaho. Accession records from the Museum indicate the human
remains consist of two cranial fragments described as two halves of the
parietal fragment glued together and exhibiting blackened or burned
surfaces. A forensic exam performed by the Museum noted the bones
exhibit a high sheen which may indicate the presence of a preservative,
although the preservative is not further described. The remains were
removed in 1961 from the Department of Energy's National Reactor
Testing Station, now Idaho National Laboratory Site, in Butte County,
Idaho. An engineer employed by the F. C. Torkelson Company, which was
performing engineering and construction work at the Site, gave the
fragments to an anthropologist with the Idaho State University Museum,
now Idaho Museum of Natural History, who was recording archaeological
sites southeast of Cinder Butte on Department of Energy lands as part
of the Birch Creek Project. The engineer donated the fragments to the
Museum and indicated they were from a lava tube 4-5 miles northeast of
the Central Facilities Area on the Site. Examination by an Idaho State
University forensic anthropologist confirmed the fragments are human.
The Museum's documentation suggests a Native American biological
affinity with Shoshone-Bannock cultural affiliation based on the
geographic location.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains described in this
notice.
Determinations
The Department of Energy has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains described
in this notice and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall
Reservation.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this
notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this
notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 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 described in this notice to a
requestor may occur on or after June 16, 2025. If competing requests
for repatriation are received, the Department of Energy, Idaho
Operations Office must determine the most appropriate requestor prior
to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains
are considered a single request and not competing requests. The
Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office 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: May 6, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-08771 Filed 5-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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