[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 82 (Wednesday, April 30, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17953-17954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07428]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040013; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

[[Page 17954]]


ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Mercyhurst University has completed an 
inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after May 30, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Anne Marjenin, Mercyhurst University, 501 East 38th Street, 
Erie, PA 16546, telephone (814) 824-2012, email nagpra@mercyhurst.edu.

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 
Mercyhurst University, and additional information on the determinations 
in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in 
its inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. On an unknown 
date, the individual (VM-090) was removed from an unknown geographic 
location in Florida. The individual may have been removed from or near 
a mound. On an unknown date, the individual was obtained by Raymond C. 
Vietzen (1907-1995). Vietzen, an avocational archaeologist, collector, 
and author, established the Indian Ridge Museum in Elyria, Ohio, and 
the Archaeological Society of Ohio (formerly the Ohio Indian Relic 
Collectors Society). The Indian Ridge Museum, founded in the 1930s, 
served as Vietzen's laboratory and repository, and it remained in 
operation until the mid-1990s. After Vietzen's death, the facility fell 
into disrepair, and most of the items he had acquired and housed at the 
museum were sold. In 1998, the Ohio Historical Society (presently the 
Ohio History Connection) removed ancestral human remains and some of 
the remaining items from the facility and temporarily housed them at 
the Ohio Historical Society. In October of 2003, these remains were 
transferred from the Ohio Historical Society to Mercyhurst College 
(presently Mercyhurst University).
    While there is no record regarding potentially hazardous substances 
having been used to treat the human remains, an unidentified adhesive 
is present. It is unknown when the adhesive was applied. The human 
remains have also been treated with an unidentified preservative 
coating, consolidant, or sealant. It is unknown when this unidentified 
substance was applied.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical 
location or acquisition history of the human remains described in this 
notice.

Determinations

    Mercyhurst University has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     There is a connection between the human remains described 
in this notice and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; Seminole Tribe of 
Florida; and The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this 
notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this 
notice under 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with 
cultural affiliation.
    Repatriation of the human remains described in this notice to a 
requestor may occur on or after May 30, 2025. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, Mercyhurst University 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. Mercyhurst University 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 10.10.

    Dated: April 15, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-07428 Filed 4-29-25; 8:45 am]
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