Notice2026-00464
Notice of Inventory Completion: Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
Primary source
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Published
January 13, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Oberlin College 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 91 Issue 8 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1333-1334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00464]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6844; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041750; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Oberlin College 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 February 12, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Dr. Amy Margaris,
Oberlin College, Department of Anthropology, King Building, 10 N
Professor Street, Oberlin, OH 44074, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4b2a263265262a392c2a3922380b24292e39272225652e2f3e"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f8999581d695998a9f998a918bb8979a9d8a949196d69d9c8d">[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
Oberlin College, 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 12 individuals have been
identified. The 24 associated funerary objects are beads; unworked
shell fragments; an herbivore tooth; a non-human vertebra; unworked
pebbles; flint flakes; and possible charcoal fragments.
Lot 1 was recovered from the Morris-Franks (Franks) Site in
Brownhelm Township, Lorain County, Ohio and consists of numerous
skeletal elements totaling MNIs of three adults and two juveniles, and
two tubular beads. This large site was excavated in the 1940s by
amateur archaeologist Raymond C. Vietzen and was attributed by Vietzen
as an Erie Indian (Late Woodland period) occupation and cemetery. Lot 1
was donated to Oberlin College by Mildred Haines on an unknown date. It
is not known if potentially hazardous substances were used to treat any
of the human remains or associated funerary objects.
Lot 2 was recovered from Catawba Island, Ottawa County, Ohio and
consists of two skull fragments totaling an MNI of one. Accession #450
in the accession book of the former Oberlin College Museum records that
the Museum received three pieces of a human skull as a gift from G.W.
[Giles Waldo] Shurtleff, Oberlin, OH on Dec. 2, 1895. Shurtleff was an
1859 graduate of
[[Page 1334]]
Oberlin College who later served as an Oberlin faculty member and
Trustee. It is not known if potentially hazardous substances were used
to treat any of the human remains.
Lot 3 was recovered from Lorain County, Ohio and consists of two
mandibular fragments totaling an MNI of one. Presence of a single, very
worn molar suggests the individual's age was adult to elderly. Adhering
labels on the larger fragment read ``521'' and ``from Indian mound,
Sheffield O.''. An accompanying handwritten note reads ``from debris
fallen partly down bank of Black River in Sheffield, O. 10 feet above
the alluvial soil and five feet above the high water mark [illegible]
presented by Kendrick K. Keising.'' The location is consistent with
that of the Eiden Site (33-LN-14), a large prehistoric village site. It
is not known if potentially hazardous substances were used to treat any
of the human remains.
Lot 4 was recovered from Erie County, Ohio and consists of one
complete mandible totaling an MNI of one. A single very worn tooth and
presence of significant bone resorption around the tooth sockets
suggests the individual's age was adult to elderly. Accession #66 in
the accession book of the former Oberlin College Museum records that
the Museum received a ``skull of an Indian from a mound in Florence,
Ohio before 1872.'' It is not known if potentially hazardous substances
were used to treat the human remains.
Lot 5 was recovered from Erie or Lorain County, Ohio and consists
of three complete leg bones totaling an MNI of one. Labels on two of
the bones read ``Leg bone from an Indian Mound, Vermillion, Mr. Van
Warner.'' A similar label on the third bone reads ``Indian Bones,
Florence, O.''. Vermillion and Florence are adjacent townships linked
by the Vermillion River. It is not known if potentially hazardous
substances were used to treat any of the human remains.
Lot 6 was recovered from Lorain County, Ohio and consists of
numerous complete and partial bones totaling MNIs of one adult and two
juveniles, and 22 AFOs. Those AFOS consist of six unworked shell
fragments; one herbivore tooth; one non-human vertebra; four unworked
pebbles; eight flint flakes; and two possible charcoal fragments. An
accompanying handwritten note reads ``Erie Indian skeleton found five
miles due north of here, 350-900 years old.'' It is not known if
potentially hazardous substances were used to treat any of 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
Oberlin College has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of at least 12 individuals of Native American
ancestry.
<bullet> The 24 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 Absentee-
Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of
Oklahoma; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of
Michigan; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe, and the Wyandotte
Nation.
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 February
12, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, Oberlin
College 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. Oberlin College 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: January 5, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-00464 Filed 1-12-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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