Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 135 / Monday, July 19, 2021 / Notices 38115 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–NPS0032262; 

PPWOCRADN0–PCU00RP14.R50000] 

Notice of Inventory Completion: Illinois 

State Museum, Springfield, IL 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Illinois State Museum 

has completed an inventory of 

associated funerary objects, in 

consultation with the appropriate 

Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 

organizations, and has determined that 

there is a cultural affiliation between the 

associated funerary objects and presentday Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 

organizations. Lineal descendants or 

representatives of any Indian Tribe or 

Native Hawaiian organization not 

identified in this notice that wish to 

request transfer of control of these 

associated funerary objects should 

submit a written request to the Illinois 

State Museum. If no additional 

requestors come forward, transfer of 

control of the associated funerary 

objects to the lineal descendants, Indian 

Tribes, or Native Hawaiian 

organizations stated in this notice may 

proceed. 

DATES: Lineal descendants or 

representatives of any Indian Tribe or 

Native Hawaiian organization not 

identified in this notice that wish to 

request transfer of control of these 

associated funerary objects should 

submit a written request with 

information in support of the request to 

the Illinois State Museum at the address 

in this notice by August 18, 2021. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. 

Brooke Morgan, Illinois State Museum 

Research & Collections Center, 1011 

East Ash Street, Springfield, IL 62703, 

telephone (217) 785–8930, email 

Brooke.Morgan@illinois.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 associated funerary objects under the 

control of the Illinois State Museum, 

Springfield, IL. The associated funerary 

objects were removed from the River 

L’Abbe Mission site (11MS2), Madison 

County, IL. 

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 associated 

funerary objects. The National Park 

Service is not responsible for the 

determinations in this notice. 

Consultation 

A detailed assessment of the 

associated funerary objects was made by 

the Illinois State Museum professional 

staff in consultation with 

representatives of the Peoria Tribe of 

Indians of Oklahoma. 

History and Description of the 

Associated Funerary Objects 

Between 1969–1972, associated 

funerary objects were removed from the 

River L’Abbe Mission site (11MS2), 

Madison County, IL, during excavations 

conducted by Melvin L. Fowler and 

Elizabeth D. Benchley of the University 

of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Charles J. 

Bareis of the University of Illinois, 

Urbana-Champaign. The human remains 

with which these funerary objects are 

associated, together with additional 

associated funerary objects, were 

previously listed in a Notice of 

Inventory Completion published in the 

Federal Register (62 FR 48303–48304, 

September 15, 1997), and were 

repatriated to the Peoria Tribe of Indians 

of Oklahoma. Subsequently, during a 

routine check of Illinois State Museum 

collections in advance of exhibit 

preparations, the associated funerary 

objects listed in this notice were found. 

The 274 associated funerary objects 

derive from five burial features. From 

burial feature 118 is one lot of soil. 

From burial feature 119 are one lot of 

soil, one lot of gravel, one lot of 

charcoal, one lot of daub, 35 animal 

bones, 23 pieces of limestone and rough 

rock, 47 chert flakes, 107 pottery 

fragments, two galena cubes, one piece 

of pigment, and one glass sphere. From 

burial feature 130 are one lot of wood 

and charcoal, two pieces of chert, two 

animal bone fragments, five pieces of 

daub, one pottery fragment, four pieces 

of iron, and 15 rocks. From burial 

feature 131 are two shell fragments, one 

piece of chert, one piece of daub, and 

14 pottery fragments. From burial 

feature 133 are one lot of daub, one lot 

of burned clay, two lots of rock, and one 

animal bone. 

The River L’Abbe Mission site is 

located on the first terrace of Monks 

Mound, a former Mississippian temple 

mound on the Mississippi River 

floodplain. River L’Abbe was a French 

colonial mission consisting of a small 

chapel and adjoining cemetery that was 

established in 1735 to quell hostilities 

between French settlers and the Cahokia 

Nation. The Cahokia lived nearby and 

utilized this cemetery until the village’s 

abandonment in 1752 when, facing 

incursion from other Tribes, many of the 

Cahokia fled south to the Fort de 

Chartres area to live with their 

Michigamea relatives. Based on the site 

context and historic documents, the 

associated funerary objects are affiliated 

with the 1735–1752 Cahokia 

occupation. The Cahokia were part of 

the Illinois Confederation of Tribes, 

which also included the Peoria, 

Kaskaskia, Michigamea, and Tamaroa. 

Their present-day descendants are the 

Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. 

Determinations Made by the Illinois 

State Museum 

Officials of the Illinois State Museum 

have determined that: 

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), 

the 274 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. 

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there 

is a relationship of shared group 

identity that can be reasonably traced 

between the associated funerary objects 

and the Peoria Tribe of Indians of 

Oklahoma. 

Additional Requestors and Disposition 

Lineal descendants or representatives 

of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 

organization not identified in this notice 

that wish to request transfer of control 

of these associated funerary objects 

should submit a written request with 

information in support of the request to 

Dr. Brooke Morgan, Illinois State 

Museum Research & Collections Center, 

1011 East Ash Street, Springfield, IL 

62703, telephone (217) 785–8930, email 

Brooke.Morgan@illinois.gov, by August 

18, 2021. After that date, if no 

additional requestors have come 

forward, transfer of control of the 

associated funerary objects to the Peoria 

Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma may 

proceed. 

The Illinois State Museum is 

responsible for notifying the Peoria 

Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma that this 

notice has been published. 

Dated: July 7, 2021. 

Melanie O’Brien, 

Manager, National NAGPRA Program. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15251 Filed 7–16–21; 8:45 am] 

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