[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58102-58103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-24795]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the Florida Museum 
of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

AGENCY: National Park Service

ACTION: Notice

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the Florida Museum of Natural History, University 
of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2 (c). The 
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of these Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within this 
notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Florida 
Museum of Natural History professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, 
Brighton, Hollywood, and Tampa Reservations; Seminole Nation of 
Oklahoma; and Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.
    Between 1914 and 1928, human remains representing one individual 
were removed from an above-ground grave box in southern Florida by Dr. 
A. J. Colborn of Connellsville, PA. In 1928, Dr. Colborn sent the 
remains to Rev. M. Herbert Burk in Valley Forge, PA. In 1953, an 
unknown person gave the remains to John Witthoft at the Pennsylvania 
State Museum. In July 1953, Mr. Witthoft wrote John Griffin, 
archeologist with the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials, 
who arranged for the remains to be placed in the collections of the 
Florida Museum of Natural History. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    A February 14, 1928 letter from Dr. Colborn to Rev. Burk identifies 
the human remains as those of Mammy Trot, a Seminole or Miccosukee 
woman. A card attached to the letter states that Mammy Trot was a 
Seminole Indian born in 1806 at Fort Lauderdale and died in 1914 at age 
108. To date, consultation with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and 
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida has not identified a lineal 
descendent.
    In 1949, human remains representing one individual were excavated 
from a Spanish-Indian site (8AL66) in Alachua County, FL, by John M. 
Goggin, an archeologist in the Department of Anthropology at the 
University of Florida. The shallow grave, containing the remains, had 
been exposed in a road cut through the site. In 1971, the remains and 
associated funerary objects were transferred from the University of 
Florida to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No known individuals 
were identified. A minimum of 329 associated funerary objects includes 
a brass kettle, tools, gun parts, an iron tomahawk, knifes, lead shot, 
a mirror, brass buckles, a silver brooch or bangle, needle fragments, 
copper rings, coils of copper wire, and fragments of iron.
    Based on osteological information, historical information about the 
Seminole Tribe of Florida, and material culture found with the 
interment, the individual has been determined to be Native American. 
The remains were determined to be those of a mature adult Seminole 
Indian male interred between A.D. 1750-1800. Historical evidence 
indicates that when settling northern Florida, Seminole peoples often 
re-occupied Spanish-Indian mission locations and Spanish hacienda 
locations abandoned between A.D. 1702-1710.
    In 1949, human remains representing one individual were excavated 
from a Spanish-Indian site (8AL67) in Alachua County, FL by John M. 
Goggin's field team. In 1971, the remains were transferred from the 
University of Florida to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No 
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Based on reported material culture found with the interment, and 
the intrusive nature of the burial, the individual has been determined 
to be Native American. The remains were determined to be those of a 
Seminole Indian interred between A.D. 1750-1800. Historical evidence 
indicates that when settling northern Florida, Seminole peoples often 
reoccupied Spanish-Indian mission locations and Spanish hacienda 
locations abandoned between A.D. 1702-1710.
    In 1954, human remains representing one individual were excavated 
from the Graham site 8DA82, a pre-Columbian Glades midden site in Dade 
County, FL, by D.D. Laxson. Laxson found the burial in the root system 
and lower trunk of a large ficus tree. The individual had been buried 
in a hollow portion of the tree. In 1954, Laxson donated the human 
remains to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No known individuals 
were identified. The 32 associated funerary objects includes rifle 
parts and hardware; brass, lead, and copper scrap; a shot mold; a brass 
ladle; knife fragments; brass buttons; a circular hand mirror; 
fragments of clay pipe; ear bangles; bone points (presumably); bone 
buttons; a shark's tooth; a copper tack; and a brass rivet.
    Based on material culture found with the interment, the individual 
has been determined to be Native American. The remains were determined 
to be those of a Seminole Indian interred between A.D. 1840-1850.
    In 1958, human remains representing one individual were collected 
from the ``Everglades Management Area'' by Bill Rabenau and Phillip 
Lloyd of Davie, FL. Circumstances surrounding the recovery of the 
remains are unknown. Messrs. Rabenau and Lloyd gave the remains to 
Charles Loveless of the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission in 
Fort Lauderdale, FL at an unknown date. In 1959, Mr. Loveless donated 
the remains to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    The accession card for the remains reads ``said to be of an Indian 
squaw about 35 years old and to have died of rickets about a hundred 
years ago.''
    In 1957, human remains representing one individual were excavated 
from a disturbed burial in the Lehigh-Portland site 8DA93, in Dade 
County, FL, by D.D. Laxson. In the upper level of the site, Mr. Laxson 
found a disturbed interment of what he interpreted as two individuals. 
Subsequent examination indicated one individual. In 1957, Mr. Laxson 
donated the remains to the Florida Museum of Natural History. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Based on material culture found at site 8DA93, the individual has 
been determined to be Native American. The remains were determined to 
be those of

[[Page 58103]]

an adult Seminole Indian. The artifacts recovered during excavations of 
the site dated to the Glades II and III period (A.D. 750-1200), the 
Spanish colonial period and the 19th century. Interment may be from the 
period of the site's Seminole occupation from the Glades periods, which 
was later disturbed and scattered.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Florida 
Museum of Natural History have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical remains 
of six individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the 
Florida Museum of Natural History also have determined that, pursuant 
to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), the 361 objects listed above 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. 
Lastly, officials of the Florida Museum of Natural History have 
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship 
of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and the 
Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood, and 
Tampa Reservations; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and Miccosukee Tribe 
of Indians of Florida. This notice has been sent to officials of the 
Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood, and 
Tampa Reservations; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and Miccosukee Tribe 
of Indians of Florida. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that 
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these human remains 
and associated funerary objects should contact Jerald Milanich, 
Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History, Museum Road, University of 
Florida, Gainesville, FL, telephone (352) 392-6791, before October 27, 
2000. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, 
Hollywood, and Tampa Reservations; Seminole Nation of Florida; and 
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida may begin after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: August 22, 2000.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 00-24795 Filed 9-26-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F