[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 160 (Thursday, August 20, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 42096]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19978]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: The Public Museum, Grand Rapids, 
MI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of The Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from an 
unknown site in or near Bay City, Bay County, MI.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by The Public Museum's professional staff in 
consultation with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, 
Michigan and Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of three 
individuals were removed from a burial mound at an unknown location in 
or near Bay City, Bay County, MI. In 1917, the human remains were 
purchased by The Public Museum from E.C. Crane. No known individuals 
were identified. The 19 associated funerary objects are 2 copper 
kettles, 14 stone flakes, 2 scrapers, and 1 hammerstone.
    Museum records indicate the material is from ``mound b2,'' an 
unknown site that is not recorded in the Michigan State Historic 
Preservation Office records. Museum records indicate that the human 
remains were removed from burial mounds, but do not indicate where the 
removal was for the objects. However, since the objects were found 
stored with the human remains and are consistent with other associated 
funerary objects removed from the Bay City area from burial mounds, the 
cultural items have been determined to be funerary objects associated 
with these individuals. The remains of one individual are associated 
with copper kettles suggesting a historic date, and the remaining two 
individuals were associated with the lithic artifacts, suggesting an 
unknown earlier context. The associated funerary objects indicate this 
was a multicomponent mound, and that an historic burial was intrusive 
to an earlier mound context.
    Based on archeological expert opinion, the human remains and 
associated funerary objects are from a site located within the Saginaw 
River watershed which has been inhabited by both the Ottawa and 
Chippewa people, with the Chippewa becoming the dominant group in the 
Saginaw River Valley by the end of the 17th century. Based on 
consultation with both the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan 
and Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan, as well as 
historical, geographical, and archeological evidence, The Public 
Museum's professional staff reasonably believe the human remains and 
associated funerary objects are affiliated with the Saginaw Chippewa 
Indian Tribe of Michigan.
    Officials of The Public Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of The Public Museum also have determined that, pursuant to 
25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 19 cultural items described above are 
reasonably believed to have been placed with or near individual remains 
at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony. 
Lastly, officials of The Public Museum have determined that, pursuant 
to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity 
that can be reasonably traced between the Native American human remains 
and associated funerary objects and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe 
of Michigan.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Marilyn Merdzinski, Director of Collections and 
Preservation, The Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW., Grand Rapids, MI 
49504, telephone (616) 456-3521, before September 21, 2009. 
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to 
the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Public Museum is responsible for notifying the Little Traverse 
Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan and Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe 
of Michigan that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 9, 2009.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-19978 Filed 8-19-09; 8:45 am]
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