Notice2025-20101
Notice of Inventory Completion: Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL
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
November 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Illinois State Museum 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
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51789-51790]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-20101]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6583; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041292; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Illinois State Museum,
Springfield, IL
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Illinois State Museum 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 December 18, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Dr. Brooke M. Morgan,
Illinois State Museum Research & Collections Center, 1011 East Ash
Street, Springfield, IL 62703, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6d0f1f020206084300021f0a0c032d040101040302041e430a021b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ee8c9c8181858bc083819c898f80ae878282878081879dc0898198">[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
Illinois State Museum, and additional information on the determinations
in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in
the inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Based on the information available, human remains representing at
least one individual have been reasonably identified. There are four
associated funerary objects, including one dog burial, one bone awl,
one lot of fauna, and one groundstone pestle. The remains and funerary
objects were removed from the Stilwell II site in Pike County, IL, in
1961 by Gregory Perino. They transferred to the Illinois State Museum
in 1961 but not identified as human remains until reviewing fauna in
2018. To our knowledge, no hazardous substances have been used to treat
the human remains or funerary objects.
Based on the information available, human remains representing at
least one individual have been reasonably identified. No associated
funerary objects are present. The remains were recovered during a
surface survey of Montezuma Mounds in 2008 and transferred to the
Illinois State Museum in 2009 under the Illinois Human Remains
Protection Act. To our knowledge, no hazardous substances have been
used to treat the human remains.
Based on the information available, 72 associated funerary objects
have been identified. They were removed on an unknown date from
Montezuma Mounds and donated to Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
They were subsequently transferred to the Illinois State Museum between
2012-2017. The 72 funerary objects include 27 chert bifaces, 20 bone
perforators, two worked bone pieces, one cut antler, two obsidian
blades, one three-quarter grooved axe, 12 ceramic sherds, two bone
beads, two lots of shell beads, one shell pendant, one glass bead, and
one lot brass and iron scraps. To our knowledge, no hazardous
substances have been used to treat the funerary objects.
Based on the information available, one associated funerary object
has been identified. The one funerary object is a dog burial that was
removed from Joe Gay Mound in Pike County, IL, in 1970 by Gregory
Perino. It transferred to the Illinois State Museum in 1970. To our
knowledge, no hazardous substances have been used to treat the funerary
object.
Based on the information available, two associated funerary objects
have been identified. The two funerary objects are one cougar maxilla
and one lot of green pigment removed from the Lawrence Gay Mound group
in Pike County, IL, in 1970 by Gregory Perino. The cougar maxilla
transferred to the Illinois State Museum in 1970, and the pigment
transferred to the Illinois State Museum in 2010 from the Center for
American Archeology. To our knowledge, no hazardous substances have
been used to treat the funerary objects.
Based on the information available, 15 associated funerary objects
have been identified. The 15 funerary objects are 10 chert flakes, one
retouched flake, one ceramic sherd, two pieces of chert, and one
groundstone cobble removed from the Lawrence Gay Mound group in Pike
County, IL, in 1984 during archaeological survey. They transferred to
the Illinois State Museum from the Center for American Archeology in
2010. To our knowledge, no hazardous substances have been used to treat
the funerary objects.
Based on the information available, one associated funerary object
has been identified. The one funerary object is one bone pin or
perforator removed from Bedford Mound in Pike County, IL, in 1904-1905.
It transferred to the Illinois State Museum between 2012-2017 from
Washington University in St. Louis, MO. To our knowledge, no hazardous
substances have been used to treat the funerary object.
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 Illinois State Museum has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 95 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 reasonable connection between the human remains
and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the
Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma;
Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of Kansas and
Nebraska; Kaw Nation, Oklahoma; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of
Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Omaha Tribe
of Nebraska; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Peoria Tribe of
Indians of Oklahoma; Pokagon Band of
[[Page 51790]]
Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; Ponca Tribe of Indians of
Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation;
Quapaw Nation; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox Tribe of the
Mississippi in Iowa; Shawnee Tribe; and the Winnebago Tribe of
Nebraska.
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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after December 18, 2025.
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Illinois State
Museum 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 Illinois State Museum 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: September 30, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-20101 Filed 11-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 18, 2025.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.