Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of the Interior

###### National Park Service

          - [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037119; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

# AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

# ACTION:

Notice.

# SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Fort Matanzas National Monument (FOMA) has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were removed from St. Johns County, FL.

# DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or after January 22, 2024.

# ADDRESSES:

                        Gordon Wilson, Superintendent, Fort Matanzas National Monument, 8635 A1A South, Saint Augustine, FL 32080, telephone (904) 829-6506, email                         *Gordon_Wilson@nps.gov.*

# 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 superintendent, FOMA. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by FOMA.

## Description

Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from St. Johns County, FL, in 1947, when Superintendent C.R. Vinten and two employees of the park visited historically significant sites near Fort Matanzas. The human remains were removed from a disturbed burial mound. No associated funerary objects are present.

## Cultural Affiliation

The human remains 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: 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, FOMA has determined that:
    - The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
    - There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice and the Seminole Tribe of Florida and The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.

## Requests for Repatriation

                    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January 22, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, FOMA 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. FOMA 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 13, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2023-28175 Filed 12-21-23; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4312-52-P