Notice2025-23033

Notice of Inventory Completion: Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, KS

Primary source

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Published
December 17, 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 240 (Wednesday, December 17, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 240 (Wednesday, December 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58599-58600]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23033]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N6681; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041421; 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 January 16, 2026.

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#e18a928992cf8f8086919380a18a92cf868e97"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="741f071c075a1a1513040615341f075a131b02">[email&#160;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, four individuals have been 
identified from the Calovich Mound site (14WY7) in Wyandotte County, KS 
(UBS 1991-72). The seven associated funerary objects include a bone 
bead, shell fragments, a rock, and animal bone. This Middle Ceramic 
village and burial site among the Missouri River bluffs was excavated 
in 1960 and then later assessed by KSHS in the 1970s. Human remains and 
funerary objects were removed from backdirt piles left by looter pits. 
Around this time, a nearby landowner removed teeth and a bone bead from 
the site and gave them to KSHS. To our knowledge, no hazardous 
substances were used to treat 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 four individuals of Native American ancestry.
    <bullet> The seven 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 Kaw 
Nation, Oklahoma 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 January 
16, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the KSHS 
must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint

[[Page 58600]]

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: November 24, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23033 Filed 12-16-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on December 17, 2025.

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