Notice of Inventory Completion: Mercyhurst University, Erie, PA

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR <SUBAGY>National Park Service</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[N6612; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041343; 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 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. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after January 15, 2026. </DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to Anne Marjenin, Mercyhurst University, 501 East 38th Street, Erie, PA 16546, 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, 10 individuals have been identified. No associated funerary objects are present. In the mid to late 1890s, likely around 1895, multiple individuals were removed from a location referred to as Traxler Mound and/or the Eiden Site in Lorain County, Ohio. On an unknown date, Raymond C. Vietzen (1907-1995) obtained an unknown number of individuals from the 1890s collecting activities. Between 1955 and 1958, additional individuals were removed from the same location, which was then referred to as the Engel-Eiden Site. Vietzen, who participated in the 1950s collecting activities, retained an unknown number of individuals from the Engel-Eiden Site, and likely continued to remove individuals into the 1960s. While there is no record regarding potentially hazardous substances having been used to treat the human remains, tape, paint, newspaper, unidentified adhesives, and an unidentified plaster or similar type of substance are present. It is unknown when these materials and substances were applied. A residue, likely from tape, is also present on some of the human remains. Human remains representing, at least, 15 individuals have been identified. The two associated funerary objects are a lead ball and faunal remains. On unknown dates before December 1943, Raymond C. Vietzen (1907-1995) removed, and supervised the removal, of multiple individuals from the Franks Site in Lorain County, Ohio. This location may also be referred to as the Morris-Franks Site and/or Morris Village Site. Vietzen likely removed additional individuals in 1949, and he retained an unknown number of individuals from the location. While there is no record regarding potentially hazardous substances having been used to treat the human remains, tape, wax, unidentified adhesives, an unidentified plaster or similar type of substance, and an unidentified preservative coating, consolidant, or sealant are present. It is unknown when these materials and substances were applied. A residue, likely from tape, is also present on some of the human remains. 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). <HD SOURCE="HD1">Cultural Affiliation</HD> 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. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Determinations</HD> Mercyhurst University has determined that: • The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 25 individuals of Native American ancestry. • The two 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 Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan; Cayuga Nation; Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana; Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan; Kaw Nation, 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; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan; 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; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Oneida Indian Nation; Oneida Nation; Onondaga Nation; Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan and Indiana; Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota; Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe; Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Seneca Nation of Indians; Seneca-Cayuga Nation; Shawnee Tribe; Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin; St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin; Tonawanda Band of Seneca; Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota; Tuscarora Nation; and the Wyandotte Nation. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Requests for Repatriation</HD> 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 <E T="02">ADDRESSES</E> . 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 January 15, 2026. 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 and associated funerary objects 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 and any other consulting parties. <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: November 17, 2025.</DATED> <NAME>Melanie O'Brien,</NAME> Manager, National NAGPRA Program. </SIG> </SUPLINF> <FRDOC>[FR Doc. 2025-22887 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]</FRDOC> </NOTICE>