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###### Department of the Interior

###### National Park Service

          - [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034193; 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 Hancock County, MS.

# 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.                          ( print page 42206)    

## Description

Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from Hancock County, MS. On November 24, 2021, Bay St. Louis Police Department responded to a report detailing human remains found in a wooded area on Chapman Road near Longfellow Road in Bay St. Louis, MS. On December 8, 2021, the Hancock County Chief Medical Examiner Investigator was notified of the discovery and arranged to have the human remains sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Biloxi, MS. The human remains were examined prior to transport to the Office of the State Medical Examiner in Pearl, MS, for forensic anthropological analysis. Completed analysis determined the human remains were removed adjacent to a known archeological site and the human remains have biological markers consistent with Native American ancestry. On May 16, 2022, the Office of the State Medical Examiner transferred legal control of the individual to the MDAH. No associated funerary objects are present.

## 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: biological information, geographical information, historical information, and other relevant 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 one individual of Native American ancestry.
    - 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 Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; and The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

## 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. 2022-15040 Filed 7-13-22; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4312-52-P