Notice of Inventory Completion: Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Grand Rapids Public Museum 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 29, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Alex Forist, Grand Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl Street NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49504 telephone (616) 929-1809, email aforist@grpm.org.

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 Grand Rapids Public Museum 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. The ancestral remains were acquired in or before 1875 from a burial mound at Aurora, Kane County, Illinois excavated by E.H. Crane (1840-1917).

Human remains representing, at least, nine individuals have been identified. The eight associated funerary objects are two bear jaws, one rodent tooth, one lot of mammal teeth, one lot of shell beads, one stone pendant, one pearl bead, and one arrowhead. The ancestral remains and associated funerary objects were acquired in or before 1877 from a burial mound at Portage Mounds (11JD1), Jo Daviess County, Illinois excavated by E.H. Crane (1840-1917).

Human remains representing at least, three individuals have been identified. The one associated funerary object is a busycon shell. The ancestral remains and associated funerary object were acquired in or before 1875 from a burial mound at Jo Daviess County, Illinois excavated by E.H. Crane (1840-1917). Museum records indicate they were removed from a site called “Battle Bluff Edgerton Farm Group.” An 1870 and 1880 census listed an Edgerton family of farmers in Hanover, Jo Daviess County.

On July 10, 1917, the Grand Rapids Public Museum purchased a substantial number of objects from the E. H. Crane Estate that included ancestral remains and associated funerary objects from these three sites. Crane was a collector and proprietor of Crane's Museum in Grand Rapids who excavated mounds in the Midwest in the late 1800s.

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 Grand Rapids Public Museum has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 13 individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The nine 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 described in this notice and the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan; Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana; Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan; Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan; Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin; Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Michigan; Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan; Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana; Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota (Six component reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; Grand Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth Band); Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota; Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota; St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota; Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

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 29, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Grand Rapids Public Museum 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 Grand Rapids Public Museum 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.