Notice2025-15410
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL
Primary source
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Published
August 14, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH), 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 155 (Thursday, August 14, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 155 (Thursday, August 14, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39219-39220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15410]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6419; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040825; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Florida, Florida
Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL
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 University of Florida, Florida Museum of
Natural History (FLMNH), 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 September 15, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Megan Fry, University
of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, 1659 Museum Road,
Gainesville, FL 32611, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0a446b6d7a786b456c6c63696f4a6c666578636e6b677f796f7f67247f6c66246f6e7f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f3bd9294838192bc95959a9096b3959f9c819a97929e868096869edd86959fdd969786">[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
FLMNH, 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 four individuals from Devils
Den (8LV84) are present at the Florida Museum of Natural History. There
are 118 associated funerary objects consisting of faunal bone and
fossil specimens, including opossum, round-tailed muskrat, fox
squirrel, southern flying squirrel, pocket gopher, rabbit, white-tailed
deer, among others.
The site is an Early Archaic, inundated land slide that has
produced fossils and faunal bones dating between 115kya to 12kya, based
on biochronology. The site is an underwater sink hole. The University
of Florida faculty and volunteers collected fossil specimens and human
remains in the 1960's, redepositing them in the FLMNH Division of
Vertebrate Paleontology. They subsequently transferred most of the
Ancestors to the Anthropology Department of FLMNH, although a few were
retained. In 1991, Michael Stallings was contacted by Eddie Montero of
Divers Supply in GNV stating that ``human bones'' had been found by
divers at Devils Den. He visited the site the following day and spoke
with the owner (Anna Lovaas). She handed over the human and faunal
bones, which were later taken to FLMNH for identification by Gary
Morgan and Liz Wing (EAP). The following week they were taken back to
DD and returned to the place where they had been removed, and those
Ancestors are not included in this notice. It appears that the
Ancestors from the Anthropology collection were later sent to Donald
Morris at Arizona State University for study. They were later
transferred from ASU to the Anthropology Department of the FLMNH in
2003, as part of a larger acquisition.
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 FLMNH has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of four individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 118 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 Miccosukee
Tribe of Indians; Seminole Tribe of Florida; and The Muscogee (Creek)
Nation.
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 September
15, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the
FLMNH 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 FLMNH is responsible for sending a copy of this
notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations
identified in this notice.
[[Page 39220]]
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: August 5, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-15410 Filed 8-13-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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