90 FR 142 pgs. 35548-35549 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, KS

Type: NOTICEVolume: 90Number: 142Pages: 35548 - 35549
Docket number: [N6334; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040523; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2025-14161 Filed 7-25-25; 8:45 am]
Agency: Interior Department
Sub Agency: National Park Service
Official PDF Version:  PDF Version
Pages: 35548, 35549

[top] page 35548

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N6334; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040523; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

Notice of Inventory Completion: Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka, KS

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) 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.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after August 27, 2025.

ADDRESSES:

Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to Dr. Nicole Klarmann, Kansas State Historical Society, 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099, email kshs.nagpra@ks.gov.

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 KSHS, 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 from Gove County, KS (UBS 2000-08). No associated funerary objects are present. Human remains were excavated by a McPherson College professor and his students in 1935 from a dry creek that fed into Hackberry Creek. The human remains were reconstructed using various glues and plaster of Paris/dental stone before being shellacked.

Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have been identified from site 14GH321 in Graham County, KS (UBS 1990-13). No associated funerary objects are present. An individual found fragmentary human remains in 1990 under a rock overhang while walking through a small tributary on the South Fork Solomon River.

Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been identified from site 14LO315 in Logan County, KS (UBS 1989-44). The 5,257 associated funerary objects include horse riding equipment, knives, a kettle, buckles, arrow points, conchos, a medallion, bucket, rifle barrel, bullets, gun flint, brass coils, tinklers, ochre, hoops, leather fragments, hair plates and pipes, animal bones, bear claws and pendant, beads, jewelry, buttons, and a mirror. In 1917, a farmer removed the human remains and objects from an eroding bank of the Smoky Hill River.

Human remains representing, at least, 13 individuals have been identified from the Pfaff site (14NS319) in Ness County, KS (UBS 1989-18N, UBS 1996-32, UBS 2008-05). The 687 associated funerary objects include pottery sherds, beads, a pendant, a gorget, projectile points, scrapers, an awl, and animal bones. A mound was accidentally disturbed in the 1950's when the landowner was leveling land with a bulldozer.


[top] Human remains representing, at least, seven individuals have been identified from Koerner Mound (14NS1) in Ness page 35549 County, KS (UBS 1991-60). The 95 associated funerary objects include shell beads, Olivella shell beads, projectile points, a scraper, debitage, bone hairpins or awls, and a shell fragment. A limestone burial mound was excavated by the landowner and then by KSHS.

To our knowledge, and unless noted above, no hazardous substances were used to treat any of the human remains or associated funerary objects.

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 and associated funerary objects described in this notice.

Determinations

The KSHS has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 24 individuals of Native American ancestry.

• The 6,039 objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.

• There is a connection between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 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 and associated funerary objects described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August 27, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the KSHS 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 KSHS is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and any other consulting parties.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

Dated: July 1, 2025.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2025-14161 Filed 7-25-25; 8:45 am]

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