Notice2026-00465
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]
[Page 1341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00465]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6845; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041751; 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#73121e0a5d1e12011412011a00331c1116011f1a1d5d161706"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dfbeb2a6f1b2beadb8beadb6ac9fb0bdbaadb3b6b1f1babbaa">[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 one individual have been
identified. The one associated funerary object is a textile fragment.
Lot 11 was recovered from Scioto County, Ohio and consists of one
rib fragment, two finger bones, and two teeth totaling an MNI of one.
They were found in the collection of the Oberlin College Department of
Geology accompanied by a handwritten note that reads ``10570, remains
from Indian mound near Portsmouth, O. By Mr. Chad Hilton, one fragment
of rib, two finger joints, two teeth.'' It is not known if potentially
hazardous substances were used to treat any of the human remains or
associated funerary objects.
A textile fragment, roughly 3 x 6 cm and preserved in wax between
two glass plates, was recovered from the Westenhaver Mound site
(33PI11) in Pickaway County, Ohio and is recorded as accession #224 in
the accession book of the former Oberlin College Museum. An
accompanying tag reads ``Mound Builders' cloth. Taken from a mound 7
\1/2\ miles S of Circleville, Ohio. July 21, 1884. Presented by Louise
S. Stewart. '89''. A note by Oberlin Museum curator A.A. Wright in the
Oberlin College Archives describes the fragment as taken from a mound
on the farm of Joseph Westenhaver by W.D. Chamberlin of Dayton, OH. The
note goes on to describe the mound dimensions and discovery in the
mound of a human burial, burial cloth, charcoal, and a polished stone
ornament. Two scientific articles on the Westenhaver site were
published in 2018 by George H. Colvin in the journal Ohio Archaeologist
(issues 1 and 3). It is not known if potentially hazardous substances
were used to treat the textile fragment.
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 one individual of Native American
ancestry.
<bullet> The one object described in this notice is 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. 2026-00465 Filed 1-12-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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