90 FR 148 pgs. 37556-37557 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA
Type: NOTICEVolume: 90Number: 148Pages: 37556 - 37557
Pages: 37556, 37557Docket number: [N6399; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040771; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2025-14799 Filed 8-4-25; 8:45 am]
Agency: Interior Department
Sub Agency: National Park Service
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
[top]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6399; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040771; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA
AGENCY:
National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION:
Notice.
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 September 4, 2025.
ADDRESSES:
Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this notice to Anne Marjenin, Mercyhurst University, 501 East 38th Street, Erie, PA 16546, 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-089) was removed from an unknown geographic location in Arizona. On an unknown date, the individual was obtained by Raymond C. Vietzen (1907-1995). 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 may have been treated with an unidentified preservative coating, consolidant, or sealant. It is unknown when this unidentified substance may have been applied.
Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been identified. No associated funerary objects are present. On an unknown date, the individual (VM-075, V-MAN-0116) was removed from La Plata County, Colorado, by Isaiah "Zeke" Flora. On an unknown date, the individual was obtained by Raymond C. Vietzen (1907-1995). While there is no record regarding potentially hazardous substances having been used to treat the human remains, an unidentified adhesive and an unidentified substance are present. It is unknown when the adhesive and substance were applied.
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).
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation, cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available about 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 two individuals of Native American ancestry.
• There is a connection between the human remains described in this notice and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Santo Domingo Pueblo; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
Requests for Repatriation
[top] 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 September 4, 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: July 28, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-14799 Filed 8-4-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P