Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Rhode Island, South Kingstown, RI, and Connecticut College, New London, CT, 51350 [2023-16487]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 148 (Thursday, August 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 51350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16487]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036308; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Rhode Island, South 
Kingstown, RI, and Connecticut College, New London, CT

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 University of Rhode Island (URI) and 
Connecticut College (CC) have completed an inventory of human remains 
and have determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the 
human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice. The human remains were removed from New London County, CT.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after September 5, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fiona Jones, URI, 232 Chafee Hall, 
Kingston, RI 02881, email [email protected]; and Kristine Bovy, URI, 508 
Chafee Hall, Kingston, RI 02881, telephone (401) 874-4143, 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 
URI and CC. 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 URI and CC.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from New London County, CT. In March of 1981, during the construction 
of a soccer field on the campus of Connecticut College, New London, CT, 
an excavating bulldozer exposed and partly damaged the burial of one 
individual interred in a substantial shell midden. Dr. Harold Juli, 
then professor of archeology at Connecticut College, conducted a 
salvage excavation and recovery of the individual. Dr. Marc Kelley, 
professor of biological anthropology at URI, was asked to collaborate 
in osteological research on the recovered individual. The human remains 
were subsequently transferred to URI. In published reports, this 
individual is determined to be of Native American descent based on 
dental morphology, as well as the context of the burial. Fragments of 
unidentified bone were collected for radiocarbon dating. The results 
concluded a time range of A.D. 162070. There are no 
associated funerary objects present. (A ``broken sandstone blade 
fragment'' was noted during excavation, but the object is not in the 
possession of URI and there is no record of this object ever being 
transferred to the University; nor is the object in the possession of 
CC.) URI was not in possession of any relevant documentation, such as 
geographic context and excavation information; this information was 
supplied by CC in 2022.

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, geographical, historical, and expert 
opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, URI and CC have 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 described in this notice 
and the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe and the Mohegan Tribe of 
Indians of Connecticut.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this 
notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. 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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after September 5, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, URI and CC must determine the most 
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint 
repatriation of the human remains are considered a single request and 
not competing requests. URI and CC 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, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: July 26, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-16487 Filed 8-2-23; 8:45 am]
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