Notice2026-10029
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, Tulsa, OK, and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Norman, OK
Primary source
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Published
May 19, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District (USACE), and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History (SNOMNH) have completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and have 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 96 (Tuesday, May 19, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 96 (Tuesday, May 19, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29157-29158]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-10029]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N7159; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042795; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Tulsa District, Tulsa, OK, and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural
History, Norman, OK
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 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa
District (USACE), and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
(SNOMNH)
[[Page 29158]]
have completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects and have 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 June 18, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Jacqueline Rodgers,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, 2488 East 81st Street,
Tulsa, OK 74137, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5d373c3e2c283831343338732f32393a382f2e1d282e3c3e38733c2f302473303431"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a3c9c2c0d2d6c6cfcacdc68dd1ccc7c4c6d1d0e3d6d0c2c0c68dc2d1ceda8dcecacf">[email protected]</span></a> and Deanna
Byrd, NAGPRA Program Coordinator, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural
History, 2401 Chautauqua Avenue, Norman, OK 73072, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1a7863687e737f5a756f347f7e6f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="30524942545955705f451e555445">[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
USACE and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 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, 66 individuals have been
identified. The 44,112 associated funerary objects are 18 ash samples,
two axes, 3,644 pieces of baked clay, one bone bead, one bone hair pin,
one bone pendant, 735 ceramic sherds, 175 charcoal samples, one crinoid
bead, 328 lots of faunal remains, one glass shard, 100 groundstones, 92
fragments of hematite, 37,994 flaked lithics, one mud dobber nest, 188
fragments of nutshell, 238 lithic points, one polished stone, three
quartz crystals, 10 seed samples, four shaped ceramics, 241 lots of
shell, 57 soil samples, 140 turtle shell fragments, 26 worked bone, and
one worked shell in addition to eight lots of groundstone, 33 lots of
ceramics, 46 lots of lithics, four lots of unworked faunal, 13 lots of
worked faunal, two lots of quartz crystal, two lots of beads, and one
lot of ash. The human remains and funerary objects described above were
removed from the Wann site 34LF27, a black midden/burial mound
representative of the Fourche Maline Phase of the Woodland
archaeological period located in LeFlore County, Oklahoma. The site was
first excavated in 1940 by the WPA and supervised by Phil Newkumet with
the University of Oklahoma. After USACE acquired the property,
collections were made on the southern half of the site to supplement
the WPA investigations during 1974-1975 and 1977-1978 archaeological
surveys and data recoveries at Wister Lake. Collections made after
USACE acquired the property in the 1960s are under the control of
USACE, collections made prior to USACE acquiring the property are under
control of Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. In order to
make all ancestors and associated funerary objects recovered from this
site available for repatriation concurrently, this notice is being
submitted cooperatively by the USACE and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of
Natural History.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available
about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in
this notice.
Determinations
The USACE and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History have
determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 66 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 44,112 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 Caddo
Nation of Oklahoma and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita,
Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), 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 representatives 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 June 18,
2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the USACE
and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History 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 USACE and
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History are responsible for
sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: May 12, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-10029 Filed 5-18-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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