Notice2025-15672
Notice of Inventory Completion: The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Primary source
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Published
August 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Kansas 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 157 (Monday, August 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 157 (Monday, August 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40078-40079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15672]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6450; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040860; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: The University of Kansas,
Lawrence, 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 University of Kansas 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
[[Page 40079]]
in this notice may occur on or after September 17, 2025
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Dr. Thomas Torma,
Repatriation Program Manager, The University of Kansas, Office of
Audit, Risk, and Compliance, 1450 Jayhawk Boulevard, 351 Strong Hall,
Lawrence, KS 66045, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#43376e372c312e220328366d262736"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="72065f061d001f133219075c171607">[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
University of Kansas, 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, 21 individuals have been
identified from three separate sites in Kansas. The three associated
funerary objects include three lots of artifacts.
An unnamed site (14BO20) is located in Bourbon County, Kansas.
Human remains representing, at least, one individual has been
identified. The one associated funerary object is one lot of artifacts.
This site was excavated in 1968 as part of surveys in preparation for
the development of Fort Scott Reservoir by the Kansas City District of
the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
The Kesl Site is located in Republic County, Kansas with no known
trinomial. Human remains representing, at least, one individual has
been identified. The one associated funerary object includes one lot of
artifacts. This site was excavated in the 1920s on the property of J.
Kesl by Floyd Schultz who donated his collection to the University of
Kansas in 1948. Records do not correspond with any other known sites in
the area described.
A site in an undescribed location is from Wyandotte County, Kansas.
Human remains representing at least 19 individuals have been
identified. The site was excavated in May 1973 on the property of Frank
Calovich. Writing on the bag containing remains includes the name ``P.
Lin,'' who was a graduate student at the University of Kansas at the
time of excavation.
In addition, one lot of artifacts associated with human remains
that were previously listed in a Notice of Inventory Completion
published in the Federal Register on September 29, 2023 (88 FR 67351)
have been identified. The one lot of associated funerary objects are
artifacts. The items, which come from Cochran Mound (23PL86), was
initially excavated in 1971 by staff and students of the Kansas
Archaeological Field School, directed by Patricia J. O'Brien of Kansas
State University (KSU). During their excavation, they noted previous
looting of the mound. In 2024, the children of R. B. Aker donated
additional items collected by their family to accompany collections
which were donated to KU in 1988 and 2022.
There is no record of toxic substances being used to treat any of
the items described in this notice.
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 University of Kansas has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of at least 21 individuals of Native American
ancestry.
<bullet> The three 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 Pawnee
Nation of 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 September
17, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the
University of Kansas 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 University of Kansas 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: August 6, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-15672 Filed 8-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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