[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 18, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74872-74873]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30451]
[[Page 74872]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11742; 2200-1100-665]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Beneski Museum of Natural
History, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst College
(formerly the Pratt Museum of Natural History) has completed an
inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian
tribes, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between
the human remains and present-day Indian tribes. Representatives of any
Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the
human remains may contact the Beneski Museum of Natural History,
Amherst College. Repatriation of the human remains to the Indian tribes
stated below may occur if no additional claimants come forward.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Beneski
Museum of Natural History, Amherst College at the address below by
January 17, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Tekla A. Harms, NAGPRA Coordinator, Beneski Museum of
Natural History, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002; telephone (413)
542-2233.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25
U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains in the
possession of the Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst College.
The human remains were removed from Florida, most likely Brevard or
Indian River counties.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible
for the determinations in this notice.
Consultation
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the NAGPRA
Coordinator and museum staff of the Beneski Museum of Natural History,
Amherst College, and their agents, in consultation with representatives
of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; Catawba Indian Nation (aka Catawba
Tribe of South Carolina); Cherokee Nation; Chickasaw Nation; Chitimacha
Tribe of Louisiana; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Coushatta Tribe of
Louisiana; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Miccosukee Tribe of Indians;
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma; Quapaw
Tribe of Indians; Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously listed as the
Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood &
Tampa Reservations)); The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Osage Nation
(previously listed as the Osage Tribe); The Seminole Nation of
Oklahoma; United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma; and
the Wyandotte Nation (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').
Representatives of the Beneski Museum also contacted and attempted to
consult with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Poarch Band of
Creeks (previously listed as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of
Alabama); and the Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe.
History and Description of the Remains
In about 1925, human remains representing, at minimum, two
individuals were removed from either the area of Melbourne, in Brevard
County, FL, or the area of Vero Beach, in Indian River County, FL, by
F.B. Loomis, Professor of Geology at Amherst College. In the early
1980s, other remains collected at the same time were transferred from
Amherst College to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department
of Anthropology for permanent curation. These remains are the subject
of a separate Notice of Inventory Completion.
Museum records regarding these human remains are fragmentary and
only indirectly constrain their provenience. The skull of one
individual is marked with a number that corresponds to an entry in the
ledger entitled ``Catalogue of Skeletal Material, Gilbert Museum of
Indian Relics.'' The ``Gilbert Museum'' is an old, informal name for
the Gilbert Collection, which is presently housed in the Beneski Museum
of Natural History, Amherst College. In its entirety, that entry reads:
``Seminole from Melbourne Florida. Complete.'' No known individuals
have been identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
Both individuals are marked with numbers that resemble the
numbering system used by F.B. Loomis in the field. Loomis was engaged
in excavating in Florida in 1923 and 1925, at least. No field notes
from Loomis's excavations remain, but newspaper reports at the time
indicate Loomis collected from ``burial mounds'' (Melbourne Florida
Times, December 5, 1923). The Boston Globe on November 1, 1925,
reported Loomis and his coworkers excavated ``in Melbourne and on the
east coast of Florida'' for five weeks and ``at Vero Beach'' for two,
obtaining ``50 skulls and about one dozen skeletons.'' This article
also associates these mounds with Native Americans from southern rather
than western Florida, based on the absence of pottery or tools in the
mounds. No doubt, this conclusion derived from an interview with Loomis
himself. Similarly, the Globe reported, ``[t]he skeletons lay in
formation around the mound, and when one layer was completed, earth was
piled on and another layer begun. In this way the growth of the mound
was effected.''
Multiple lines of evidence--guided by tribal consultations--
including geographic, oral tradition, archaeological, linguistic,
historical, and aboriginal land claims, demonstrate a shared group
identity between these human remains and the modern-day tribes of the
Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma; Seminole Tribe of Florida; and The
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.
Determinations Made by the Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst
College
Officials of the Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst College
have determined that:
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described
in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of
Native American ancestry.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native
American human remains and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma;
Seminole Tribe of Florida; and The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact the NAGPRA
Coordinator, Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst College,
Amherst, MA 01002; telephone (413) 542-2233, before January 17, 2013.
Repatriation of the human remains to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation,
Oklahoma; Seminole Tribe of Florida; and The Seminole Nation of
Oklahoma may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come
forward.
[[Page 74873]]
The Beneski Museum of Natural History, Amherst College is
responsible for notifying The Tribes that this notice has been
published.
Dated: November 20, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-30451 Filed 12-17-12; 8:45 am]
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