Notice2025-14161
Notice of Inventory Completion: Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, KS
Primary source
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Published
July 28, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) 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 142 (Monday, July 28, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 142 (Monday, July 28, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35548-35549]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14161]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6334; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040523; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Kansas State Historical Society,
Topeka, 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), the Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS)
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 August 27, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Dr. Nicole Klarmann,
Kansas State Historical Society, 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-
1099, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2c475f445f02424d4b5c5e4d6c475f024b435a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cda6bea5bee3a3acaabdbfac8da6bee3aaa2bb">[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
KSHS, 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 from Gove County, KS (UBS 2000-08). No associated funerary
objects are present. Human remains were excavated by a McPherson
College professor and his students in 1935 from a dry creek that fed
into Hackberry Creek. The human remains were reconstructed using
various glues and plaster of Paris/dental stone before being
shellacked.
Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have been
identified from site 14GH321 in Graham County, KS (UBS 1990-13). No
associated funerary objects are present. An individual found
fragmentary human remains in 1990 under a rock overhang while walking
through a small tributary on the South Fork Solomon River.
Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been
identified from site 14LO315 in Logan County, KS (UBS 1989-44). The
5,257 associated funerary objects include horse riding equipment,
knives, a kettle, buckles, arrow points, conchos, a medallion, bucket,
rifle barrel, bullets, gun flint, brass coils, tinklers, ochre, hoops,
leather fragments, hair plates and pipes, animal bones, bear claws and
pendant, beads, jewelry, buttons, and a mirror. In 1917, a farmer
removed the human remains and objects from an eroding bank of the Smoky
Hill River.
Human remains representing, at least, 13 individuals have been
identified from the Pfaff site (14NS319) in Ness County, KS (UBS 1989-
18N, UBS 1996-32, UBS 2008-05). The 687 associated funerary objects
include pottery sherds, beads, a pendant, a gorget, projectile points,
scrapers, an awl, and animal bones. A mound was accidentally disturbed
in the 1950's when the landowner was leveling land with a bulldozer.
Human remains representing, at least, seven individuals have been
identified from Koerner Mound (14NS1) in Ness
[[Page 35549]]
County, KS (UBS 1991-60). The 95 associated funerary objects include
shell beads, Olivella shell beads, projectile points, a scraper,
debitage, bone hairpins or awls, and a shell fragment. A limestone
burial mound was excavated by the landowner and then by KSHS.
To our knowledge, and unless noted above, no hazardous substances
were used to treat any of the human remains or associated funerary
objects.
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 and associated
funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The KSHS has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 24 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 6,039 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 Northern
Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming 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
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August
27, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the KSHS
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 KSHS is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to
the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this
notice and any other consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: July 1, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-14161 Filed 7-25-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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