Notice2025-11134
Notice of Inventory Completion: Duke University, Durham, NC
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
June 17, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Duke University has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is no lineal descendant and no Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with cultural affiliation.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 115 (Tuesday, June 17, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 115 (Tuesday, June 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25625-25626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11134]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040399; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Duke University, Durham, NC
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Duke University has completed an inventory
of human remains and has determined that there is no lineal descendant
and no Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with cultural
affiliation.
DATES: Upon request, repatriation of the human remains in this notice
may occur on or after July 17, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
in this notice to Dr. Steven Churchill, Department of Evolutionary
Anthropology, Box 90383, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4d2e25383f2e25340d2938262863282938"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b4d7dcc1c6d7dccdf4d0c1dfd19ad1d0c1">[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 Duke
University, 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 one individual have been identified. No
associated funerary objects are present. During inventory and curation
work with human skeletal material used in anatomical teaching, members
of the faculty of Duke University's Department of Evolutionary
Anthropology became aware of a skull, potentially representing a Native
American, stored in a cabinet in the laboratory of one of our faculty.
Investigation revealed that the skull has been in the department since
at least 1973, and that the details of its acquisition fall beyond the
institutional memory of our most senior faculty. No other information
about provenience or provenance is available. Features of the face and
cranial vault, as well as the surface characteristics of the bone,
strongly suggest that the individual represents a prehistoric Native
American. No known hazardous substances have been applied to the bone.
Consultation
Invitations to consult were sent to the Catawba Indian Nation;
Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Monacan Indian
Nation; Nansemond Indian Nation; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; and the
Tuscarora Nation. The Catawba Indian Nation; Cherokee Nation; Eastern
Band of Cherokee Indians; Monacan Indian Nation, and The Muscogee
(Creek) Nation responded to the invitation to consult; with the
exception of the Monacan Indian Nation (who deferred to the other
Tribes), all of these Tribes participated in the consultation.
Cultural Affiliation
The following types of information about the cultural affiliation
of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice are
available: anthropological. The information, including the results of
consultation, identified:
1. No earlier group connected to the human remains.
2. No Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization connected to the
human remains.
3. No relationship of shared group identity between the earlier
group and the Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization that can be
reasonably traced through time.
Determinations
Duke University has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> No known lineal descendant who can trace ancestry to the
human remains in this notice has been identified.
<bullet> No Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation to the human remains in this notice has been
clearly or reasonably identified.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this
notice must be sent to the authorized representative
[[Page 25626]]
identified in this notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation
may be submitted by any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native
Hawaiian organization 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.
Upon request, repatriation of the human remains described in this
notice may occur on or after July 17, 2025. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, Duke University 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. Duke University is responsible for sending a
copy of this notice to any consulting lineal descendant, Indian Tribe,
or Native Hawaiian organization.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: June 11, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-11134 Filed 6-16-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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