Notice2025-22888
Notice of Inventory Completion: Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA
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
December 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Mercyhurst University has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58304-58305]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22888]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6613; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041344; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Mercyhurst University has completed an
inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural
affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native
Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or
after January 15, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
in this notice to Anne Marjenin, Mercyhurst University, 501 East 38th
Street, Erie, PA 16546, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7d131c1a0d0f1c3d10180f1e0415080f0e0953181908"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="026c6365727063426f6770617b6a777071762c676677">[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
Mercyhurst 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, at least, one individual have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. On an unknown
date, the individual (VM-056) was removed from an unknown geographic
location, possibly in Montgomery County, Ohio. On an unknown date, the
individual was obtained by Raymond C. Vietzen (1907-1995). Vietzen, an
avocational archaeologist, collector, and author, established the
Indian Ridge Museum in Elyria, Ohio, and the Archaeological Society of
Ohio (formerly the Ohio Indian Relic Collectors Society). The Indian
Ridge Museum, founded in the 1930s, served as Vietzen's laboratory and
repository, and it remained in operation until the mid-1990s. After
Vietzen's death, the facility fell into disrepair, and most of the
items he had acquired and housed at the museum were sold. In 1998, the
Ohio Historical Society (presently the Ohio History Connection) removed
ancestral human remains and some of the remaining items from the
facility and temporarily housed them at the Ohio Historical Society. In
October of 2003, these remains were transferred from the Ohio
Historical Society to Mercyhurst College (presently Mercyhurst
University).
While there is no record regarding potentially hazardous substances
having been used to treat the human remains, paper and an unidentified
adhesive are present. It is unknown when the paper and adhesives were
applied. The human remains may have been treated with an unidentified
preservative coating, consolidant, or sealant. It is unknown when this
unidentified substance may have been applied.
[[Page 58305]]
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 described in this
notice.
Determinations
Mercyhurst University has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains described
in this notice and the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma;
Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the
Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan;
Cayuga Nation; Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation,
Montana; Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Nation,
Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma;
Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Grand Traverse Band of
Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Hannahville Indian Community,
Michigan; Kaw Nation, Oklahoma; Keweenaw Bay Indian Community,
Michigan; Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas; Kickapoo Tribe of
Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas; Kickapoo Tribe of
Oklahoma; Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of
Wisconsin; Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of
the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin; Lac Vieux Desert Band of
Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan; Little River Band of Ottawa
Indians, Michigan; Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana;
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-
she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Miami Tribe of
Oklahoma; Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota (Six component
reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; Grand
Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth Band);
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan; Omaha Tribe of
Nebraska; Oneida Indian Nation; Oneida Nation; Onondaga Nation; Ottawa
Tribe of Oklahoma; Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Pokagon Band of
Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; Ponca Tribe of Indians of
Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; Red
Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Red Lake
Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota; Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of
Michigan; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe; Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa
Indians, Michigan; Seneca Nation of Indians; Seneca-Cayuga Nation;
Shawnee Tribe; Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin; St. Croix
Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Tonawanda Band of Seneca; Turtle
Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota; Tuscarora Nation;
and the Wyandotte Nation.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 described in this notice to a
requestor may occur on or after January 15, 2026. If competing requests
for repatriation are received, Mercyhurst 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. Mercyhurst University 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: November 17, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-22888 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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