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###### Department of the Interior

###### National Park Service

          - [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034195; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

# AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

# ACTION:

Notice.

# SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from multiple counties in Mississippi.

# DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after August 15, 2022.

# ADDRESSES:

                        Meg Cook, Director of Archaeology Collections, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Museum Division, 222 North Street, P.O. Box 571, Jackson, MS 39205, telephone (601) 576-6927, email                         *mcook@mdah.ms.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 MDAH. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by the MDAH.

## Description

In 1961 and 1965, human remains representing, at minimum, nine individuals were removed from 22LA509 and 22LA517 during excavations conducted by the University of Mississippi in Lafayette County, MS. These collections were transferred to MDAH on July 30, 2021. The six associated funerary objects are two lots of ceramics, two lots lithic material, one lot of charcoal, and one lot of faunal remains.

Before 1990, human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were removed during excavations by the University of Mississippi (22LE519) and the Mississippi Department of Transportation (22LE?) from Lee County, MS. These collections were transferred to MDAH on July 30, 2021, and May 4, 2022. The one associated funerary object is one lot of shell.

At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from Panola County, MS. The individual was transferred to MDAH on July 30, 2021. The one associated funerary object is one lot of faunal remains.

                    At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual was removed from 22PO552 in Pontotoc County, MS. Skeletal elements in the foot have possible copper staining. The two associated                           ( print page 42207)                        funerary objects are one lot of metal and one lot of wood.                

At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from 22PS101 in Prentiss County, MS. The one associated funerary object is one lot of shell.

At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were removed from 22QU501, 502, 531, and 570 in Quitman County, MS. These collections were transferred to MDAH on July 30, 2021. The seven associated funerary objects are two lots of burial matrix, two lots of faunal remains, one lot of ceramics, one lot of fired clay, and one lot of shell.

In or around 1964 and at an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, 17 individuals were removed from 22YA500 and an unknown site in Yalobusha County, MS. The eight associated funerary objects are two lots of ceramics, one lot of daub, one lot of fossils, two lots of lithic materials, one lot of unidentified clay, and one lot of faunal remains.

## Cultural Affiliation

The human remains and associated funerary objects 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: archeological information, biological information, and geographical information.

## Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the MDAH has determined that:
    - The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 41 individuals of Native American ancestry.
    - The 26 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.
    - There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas ( previously                      listed as Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Quapaw Nation (                     previously                      listed as The Quapaw Tribe of Indians); The Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Osage Nation (                     previously                      listed as Osage Tribe); and the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe.                

## Requests for Repatriation

                    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 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 and associated funerary objects in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August 15, 2022. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the MDAH 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. The MDAH 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: July 6, 2022.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2022-15042 Filed 7-13-22; 8:45 am]

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