Notice of Inventory Completion: Saint Louis Science Center, St. Louis, MO, 2124 [2023-00470]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 2124]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00470]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035098; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Saint Louis Science Center, St. 
Louis, MO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Saint Louis Science Center (SLSC) 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 St. Louis County, MO.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after February 13, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Kristina Hampton, Manager of Collections and Special 
Projects, Saint Louis Science Center, 5050 Oakland Avenue, St. Louis, 
MO 63110, telephone (314) 286-4672, 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 the 
SLSC. 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 SLSC.

Description

    In 1870, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from site 23SL3, Big Mound, in St. Louis County, MO, by 
archeologist Henry M. Whelpley with support from the Academy of Science 
of St. Louis. Upon his death in 1944, Whelpley donated his 
archeological collection, amassed during decades of excavations, to the 
Academy of Science of St. Louis. In 1959, the Academy of Science of St. 
Louis created the Museum of Science and Natural History in St. Louis, 
MO. In 1972, the Museum of Science and Natural History separated from 
the Academy of Science of St. Louis and control of this collection was 
transferred to the Museum of Science and Natural History. In 1985, when 
the Museum of Science and Natural History joined with St. Louis City's 
Planetarium, the newly formed institution was named the Saint Louis 
Science Center. This collection remains with the SLSC and is used to 
support the SLSC's mission, exhibits, and programs. No known individual 
was identified. The one associated funerary object is one lot of 
perforated shell discs (approximately 86 discs strung on twine).

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: oral traditional, linguistic, archeological, and 
historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the SLSC has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     The one object 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 Osage Nation (previously 
listed as Osage 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 February 13, 2023. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the SLSC 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 SLSC is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribe 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: January 4, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-00470 Filed 1-11-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P