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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 220 (Thursday, November 14, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 90049]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26449]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039026; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

Notice of Intended Repatriation: Ball State University, Muncie, 
IN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Ball State University (BSU) intends to 
repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of an 
unassociated funerary object and that has a cultural affiliation with 
the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or 
after December 16, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Chyan Gilaspy, Ball State University, Applied Anthropology 
Laboratories, 2000 W Riverside Avenue, Muncie, IN 47306, telephone 
(765) 285-5362, email [email protected].

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 BSU 
and additional information on the determinations in this notice, 
including the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or 
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    A total of one cultural item has been requested for repatriation. 
The one unassociated funerary object is an effigy vessel or hooded 
water bottle (listed as animal-shaped vessel in BSU records). The item 
was donated to BSU by a private donor in 1953. Based on consultation, 
available documentation, and archaeological evidence pertaining to 
similar funerary objects, we conclude that this cultural item was 
likely removed from an ancestral Osage burial at an unrecorded date and 
location prior to 1953. There are no institutional records indicating 
the presence of any potentially hazardous substances used to treat the 
cultural item.

Determinations

    BSU has determined that:
     The one unassociated funerary object described in this 
notice is 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.
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural item 
described in this notice and The Osage Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item 
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified 
in this notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be 
submitted by 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 cultural item in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after December 16, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, BSU must determine the most appropriate 
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the 
cultural item are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. The BSU is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this 
notice and to any other consulting parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

    Dated: November 5, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-26449 Filed 11-13-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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