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###### Department of the Interior

###### National Park Service

          - [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037092; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

# AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

# ACTION:

Notice.

# SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) 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. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Snohomish County, WA.

# DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after January 18, 2024.

# ADDRESSES:

                        Nell Murphy, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, telephone (212) 769-5837, email                         *nmurphy@amnh.org.*

# 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 AMNH. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by the AMNH.

## Description

                    Human remains representing, at minimum, 16 individuals were removed from Snohomish County, WA. In 1899, former AMNH Curator of North American Archaeology, Harlan Smith, excavated the individuals and 15 associated funerary objects from eight shell heaps found along the                           ( print page 87808)                        Stillaguamish River in the vicinity of Stanwood, WA. The material was collected as part of the Jesup Expedition and subsequently accessioned at the AMNH. Biological and archeological evidence suggests that the individuals excavated by Smith lived sometime during the Prehistoric Period. The 15 associated funerary objects are four shells, including a mussel shell; one stone; two grit stones; one stone pestle; two antler wedges; one piece of antler; one bone implement; one bone harpoon barb; one animal tooth; and one animal upper jaw fragment.                

## Cultural Affiliation

The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological information, archeological information, biological information, geographical information, historical information, linguistics, oral tradition, and expert opinion.

## Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the AMNH has determined that:
    - The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 16 individuals of Native American ancestry.
    - The 15 objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
    - There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians of Washington; Swinomish Indian Tribal Community; Tulalip Tribes of Washington; and the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe.

## Requests for Repatriation

                    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in                     **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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January 18, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the AMNH 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 AMNH is 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 10.9, § 10.10, and § 10.14.                

Dated: December 8, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program. 

[FR Doc. 2023-27798 Filed 12-18-23; 8:45 am]

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