Notice of Inventory Completion: Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, 15073 [2023-04900]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 47 (Friday, March 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 15073]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04900]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035450; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Pittsburg State University, 
Pittsburg, KS

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 Pittsburg State University has completed 
an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has 
determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and any Indian Tribe. The human remains were removed from Kings 
County, CA; Luna County, NM; and Muskogee County, OK.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after April 10, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Steven Cox, Pittsburg State University, 1701 S Broadway, 
Pittsburg, KS 33732, telephone (620) 235-4883, 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 
Pittsburg State University. 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 Pittsburg State University.

Description

    During the 1920s, human remains representing, at minimum, 19 
individuals were removed by Harry Rimmer, an amateur archeologist, from 
locations reasonably believed to be Kings County, CA; Muskogee County, 
OK; and Luna County, NM. These human remains became part of the 
collection of the museum established at Pittsburg State University 
(then the Kansas Teachers College of Pittsburg) at the time of their 
removal. No records have survived concerning the acquisition or 
accession, identification, or age of these human remains. Articles 
about the museum published in the university's student newspaper in the 
1920s reveal that in the mid-1920s, Dr. William Brandenburg, the 
president of the university, invited Harry Rimmer, to help establish a 
natural history museum at the university. During the following several 
years, Mr. Rimmer traveled throughout the U.S., excavated known Native 
American burial sites in Kings County, CA, Muskogee County, OK, and 
Luna County, NM, and removed and shipped human remains to the 
university for the museum. The museum existed on campus until 
approximately 1970. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.

Aboriginal Land

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
were removed from known geographic locations. These locations are the 
aboriginal lands of one or more Indian Tribes. The following 
information was used to identify the aboriginal land: treaties.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, Pittsburg State 
University has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 19 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     No relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably 
traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects and 
any Indian Tribe.
     The human remains described in this notice were removed 
from the aboriginal land of the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Apache 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation; Cheyenne 
and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Santa 
Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; The 
Muskogee (Creek) Nation; The Osage Nation; Tule River Indian Tribe of 
the Tule River Reservation, California; White Mountain Apache Tribe of 
the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona; and the Wichita and Affiliated 
Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.

Requests for Disposition

    Written requests for disposition of the human remains in this 
notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for disposition may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes 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, or who shows that the requestor is an aboriginal land 
Indian Tribe.
    Disposition of the human remains described in this notice to a 
requestor may occur on or after April 10, 2023. If competing requests 
for disposition are received, Pittsburg State University must determine 
the most appropriate requestor prior to disposition. Requests for joint 
disposition of the human remains are considered a single request and 
not competing requests. Pittsburg State University is responsible for 
sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes 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 and Sec.  
10.11.

    Dated: March 1, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-04900 Filed 3-9-23; 8:45 am]
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