Notice of Inventory Completion: Office of the State Archaeologist Bioarchaeology Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Office of the State Archaeologist Bioarchaeology Program (OSA-BP) has completed an in...
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Office of the State Archaeologist Bioarchaeology Program (OSA-BP) 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.
DATES:
Upon request, repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or after June 4, 2026.
ADDRESSES:
Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this notice to Dr. Lara Noldner, Office of the State Archaeologist Bioarchaeology Program, University of Iowa, 700 S Clinton Street, Iowa City, IA 52242, email
lara-noldner@uiowa.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 the OSA BP, 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 remains were acquired at an unknown time, sometime in the 1970s, and used as a part of the Kirkwood Community College's Dental Hygiene Program teaching collection until they were transferred to the OSA-BP in December 2025. The condition, coloration, and postmortem modification evident are consistent with anatomical preparation and non-ancient antiquity; there is no evidence of removal from a burial context. The individual's geographical region of origin is unknown. An older adult female is represented by the human remains. Cranial metrics indicate she is of Native American ancestry (Burial Project 3946). No known hazardous substances were used to treat the human remains.
Consultation
Invitations to consult were sent to the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana; Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation,
( printed page 24287)
South Dakota; Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan; Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Kaw Nation, Oklahoma; Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan; Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas; Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma; 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; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; 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); Oglala Sioux Tribe; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation; Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Quapaw Nation; Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota; Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; The Osage Nation; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
Cultural Affiliation
The following types of information about the cultural affiliation of the human remains in this notice are available: anthropological, biological, and expert opinion. 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.
Determinations
The OSA BP 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 described in this notice has been clearly or reasonably identified.
Requests for Repatriation
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 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 to a requestor may occur on or after June 4, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the OSA BP 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. The OSA BP is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes or 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.
Use this for formal legal and research references to the published document.
91 FR 24286
Web Citation
Suggested Web Citation
Use this when citing the archival web version of the document.
“Notice of Inventory Completion: Office of the State Archaeologist Bioarchaeology Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA,” thefederalregister.org (May 5, 2026), https://thefederalregister.org/documents/2026-08773/notice-of-inventory-completion-office-of-the-state-archaeologist-bioarchaeology-program-university-of-iowa-iowa-city-ia.