Notice2025-23054
Notice of Inventory Completion: Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society, Fort Wayne, IN
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 17, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society 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 58603-58604]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23054]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6698; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041444; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Allen County-Fort Wayne
Historical Society, Fort Wayne, IN
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 Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical
Society 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 Todd Maxwell Pelfery,
Executive Director, Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society, 302 E
Berry Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#bdc9cdd8d1dbcfd8c4fddbcad5d4cec9d2cfc4ded8d3c9d8cf93d2cfda"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a7d3d7c2cbc1d5c2dee7c1d0cfced4d3c8d5dec4c2c9d3c2d589c8d5c0">[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
Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society 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, two individuals have been
identified. The 172 associated funerary objects are potsherds,
projectile points, stone tools, and blades. The remains of the first
reasonably culturally identifiable individual were found in Milan
Township, Allen County, Indiana, in 1936 as part of county-wide
archaeological survey. There are at 4 mandible fragments, and other
smaller fragments likely belong to the same mandible, and three human
teeth are attributed to this one individual. Forty-four of the
associated funerary objects are attributed to the same excavation site
as the human remains. The remains of the second reasonably culturally
identifiable individual were found in St. Joseph Township, Allen
County, Indiana, in 1936 as part of the same county-wide archaeological
survey. There is one grooved bone fragment that is believed to belong
to one individual. There are 128 associated funerary objects that are
attributed to the same excavation site as the human remains of the
second individual. The human remains of these two individuals and the
associated funerary objects arrived at the Allen County-Fort Wayne
Historical Society in1972 and were originally part of the 1936
Archaeological Survey of Allen County, led by Professor Glen A. Black.
Professor Black was most prominently
[[Page 58604]]
known for his excavation of burial mounds.
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 Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 172 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 Miami
Tribe of Oklahoma and the Shawnee Tribe.
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
Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society 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 Allen
County-Fort Wayne Historical Society 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 25, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23054 Filed 12-16-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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