Notice of Inventory Completion: Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR <SUBAGY>National Park Service</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040012; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Notice of Inventory Completion: Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Park Service, Interior. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> 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 no lineal descendant and no Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with cultural affiliation. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Upon request, repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or after May 30, 2025. </DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Anne Marjenin, Mercyhurst University, 501 East 38th Street, Erie, PA 16546, telephone (814) 824-2012, email <E T="03">nagpra@mercyhurst.edu.</E> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> 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. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Abstract of Information Available</HD> Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been identified. No associated funerary objects are present. The individual (VM-024, V-MAN-0206) was removed from an unknown geographic location in North Carolina, likely in 1967 or 1969. 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, unidentified adhesives and an unidentified foam are present. It is unknown when the adhesives and foam were applied. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Consultation</HD> Invitations to consult were sent to the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Catawba Indian Nation; Cherokee Nation; Chickahominy Indian Tribe; Chickahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Monacan Indian Nation; Nansemond Indian Nation; Pamunkey Indian Tribe; Rappahannock Tribe, Inc.; Shawnee Tribe; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; Tuscarora Nation; United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma; and the Upper Mattaponi Tribe. The following Indian Tribes participated in consultation: Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Nansemond Indian Nation; Shawnee Tribe; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The Chickahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division provided a response on a later date. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Cultural Affiliation</HD> The following types of information about the cultural affiliation of the human remains in this notice are available: geographical. The information, including the results of consultation, identified: 1. No earlier group connected to the human remains. 2. No Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization connected to the human remains. 3. No relationship of shared group identity between the earlier group and the Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization that can be reasonably traced through time. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Determinations</HD> Mercyhurst University has determined that: • The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry. • No known lineal descendant who can trace ancestry to the human remains in this notice has been identified. • No Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with cultural affiliation to the human remains in this notice has been clearly or reasonably identified. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Requests for Repatriation</HD> Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> . Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization 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. Upon request, repatriation of the human remains described in this notice 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 any consulting lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. <E T="03">Authority:</E> Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10. <SIG> <DATED>Dated: April 15, 2025.</DATED> <NAME>Melanie O'Brien,</NAME> Manager, National NAGPRA Program. </SIG> </SUPLINF> <FRDOC>[FR Doc. 2025-07427 Filed 4-29-25; 8:45 am]</FRDOC> </NOTICE>