[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 82 (Thursday, April 30, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 19977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9986]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: New York University College of 
Dentistry, New York, NY

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 in the possession of the 
New York University College of Dentistry, New York City, NY. The human 
remains were removed from Colfax County, NE.
    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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by New York 
University College of Dentistry professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of two 
individuals were removed from a site identified as a Pawnee Burial 
Site, Schuyler, Colfax County, NE, by an unknown collector. In 1922, 
the human remains were accessioned by the Department of Physical 
Anthropology at the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. In 
1956, the human remains were transferred to Dr. Theodore Kazamiroff at 
the New York University College of Dentistry. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Museum of the American Indian records identify the provenience of 
the human remains as a ``Pawnee Burial Site, Schuyler, Nebraska.'' The 
cranial morphology of the human remains confirms that they belong to an 
individual of Pawnee ancestry. Consultations with the Pawnee Nation of 
Oklahoma confirmed the identification of the human remains from the 
burial site as Pawnee.
    Schuyler, NE, is located along the Loup River, and corresponds to 
an area of protohistoric (Lower Loup phase) and historic Pawnee 
villages that have been identified as Pawnee by the Pawnee Nation and 
archeologists. It is likely that the human remains date to the Lower 
Loup phase or historic period. The Loup River area was settled by the 
Skidi Pawnee, one of four Pawnee bands, by 1700. Skidi Pawnee sites are 
identified in historic documents dating as early as 1718, and they 
remained the primary Pawnee band in the area for the next century. By 
1857, all four Pawnee bands coalesced along the Loup River after 
disease, warfare and land cessions resulted in a restriction of Pawnee 
lands. By 1875, the Pawnee left the Loup River and settled on a tract 
of land in Oklahoma. Today they are known as the Pawnee Nation of 
Oklahoma.
    Officials of the New York University College of Dentistry have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of two individuals of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the New York University College 
of Dentistry also 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 the Pawnee Nation 
of Oklahoma.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Dr. 
Louis Terracio, New York University College of Dentistry, 345 East 24th 
St, New York, NY 10010, telephone (212) 998-9917, before June 1, 2009. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The New York University College of Dentistry is responsible for 
notifying the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: April 13, 2009.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-9986 Filed 4-29-09; 8:45 am]
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