FR Doc 04-27786
[Federal Register: December 20, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 243)]
[Notices]
[Page 76005-76006]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20de04-120]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry,
IA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office determined that the
physical remains of 12 individuals of Native American ancestry and
three associated funerary objects in Effigy Mounds National Monument's
collections, described below in Information about cultural items, are
culturally unidentifiable. The Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Review Committee (Review Committee) recommended that
Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry, IA, repatriate the
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Sac and Fox Nation
of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma; and
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
The National Park Service publishes this notice on behalf of Effigy
Mounds National Monument as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. The determinations within
this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, institution, or
Federal agency that has control of the Native American human remains
and associated funerary objects. The National NAGPRA Program is not
responsible for the determinations within this notice.
Information about NAGPRA is available online at http://www.cr.nps.gov/nagpra
.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items to the Indian tribes listed
above in SUMMARY may proceed after January 19, 2005, if no additional
claimants come forward. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural items
should contact Effigy Mounds National Monument before January 19, 2005.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Authority: 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.; 43 CFR 10; and 16 U.S.C. 18f-
2.
Contact. Contact Phyllis Ewing, Superintendent, Effigy Mounds
National Monument, 151 Highway 76, Harpers Ferry, IA 52146, telephone
(563) 873[macr]3491, e[macr]mail Phyllis_Ewing@nps.gov, regarding
determinations stated in this notice or to claim the cultural items
described in this notice.
Consultation. Effigy Mounds National Monument identified the
cultural items and assessed the cultural affiliation of the cultural
items in consultation with representatives of the Ho[macr]Chunk Nation
of Wisconsin (formerly the Wisconsin
[[Page 76006]]
Winnebago Tribe); Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of
Oklahoma; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota;
Otoe[macr]Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Prairie Island Indian
Community in the State of Minnesota; Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in
Kansas and Nebraska; Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac and Fox Tribe of
the Mississippi in Iowa; Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of
Minnesota; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; and Winnebago Tribe of
Nebraska.
Information about cultural items. In 1952, National Park Service
archeologist Paul L. Beaubien removed human remains representing a
minimum of 12 individuals from Mound 57 at Effigy Mounds National
Monument, Allamakee County, IA, during an authorized National Park
Service excavation. At the time of removal, the site was on Federal
land.
The cultural material recovered from Mound 57 was identified as
Middle Woodland (1700[macr]2200 B.P.). Human remains from Mound 57 were
examined in 1952[macr]53 by Alton K. Fisher, then Professor of
Dentistry at the University of Iowa. Archival records at Effigy Mounds
National Monument indicate Dr. Fisher took the remains to Iowa City for
analysis, and in 1953 requested that Mr. Beaubien pick up the remains.
No further information is available about the disposition of the human
skeletal material following Dr. Fisher's request. Recently, the human
remains were returned to Effigy Mounds National Monument. A detailed
assessment of the human remains was made by the Burials Program, Iowa
Office of the State Archaeologist on behalf of the National Park
Service during the summer of 2003. The human remains represent 12
individuals distinguished primarily by dentition and fragmented or
incomplete cranial and postcranial remains. Seven adults and five
sub[macr]adults are represented. No known individuals were identified.
The three associated funerary objects are one copper breast plate, one
sandstone drill pivot, and one piece of obsidian.
Officials of the National Park Service determined that a
relationship of shared group identity could not reasonably be traced
between the human remains and associated funerary objects and any
present[macr]day Indian tribe. Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the
three objects described above are reasonably believed to have been
placed with or near individual human remains at the time of death or
later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
According to the Review Committee's charter, the Review Committee
is responsible for recommending specific actions for disposition of
culturally unidentifiable human remains. In July 2004, Effigy Mounds
National Monument requested that the Review Committee recommend
repatriation of the 12 culturally unidentifiable human remains and
associated funerary objects to the tribes listed above in SUMMARY as
the aboriginal occupants of the lands encompassing the present[macr]day
Effigy Mounds National Monument. Effigy Mounds National Monument is
located within the area covered by the Treaty of September 21, 1832
between the Sauk and Fox tribes and the United States (Stat. L. VII
374), and is located within the area covered by the November 23, 1973
final award of the Indian Claims Commission to the Sauk and Fox tribes
(4 Ind. Cl. Comm. 367 [1957]). The Review Committee considered the
proposal at its September 2004 meeting in Washington, DC, and
recommended repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects to the three tribes. The National Park Service intends to
convey the three associated funerary objects to the Sac and Fox Nation
of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma; and
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa pursuant to 16 U.S.C.
18f[macr]2.
A September 21, 2004, letter from the Designated Federal Officer to
the superintendent of Effigy Mounds National Monument transmitted the
Review Committee's recommendation that the park repatriate the human
remains and associated funerary objects to the tribes listed above in
Summary contingent on the publication of a Notice of Inventory
Completion in the Federal Register. This notice fulfills that
requirement.
Determinations. Under 25 U.S.C. 3003, Effigy Mounds National
Monument officials determined that the human remains represent the
physical remains of 12 individuals of Native American ancestry; and
National Park Service officials determined that the human remains and
associated funerary objects are culturally unidentifiable.
Notification. Effigy Mounds National Monument is responsible for
sending copies of this notice to the consulted Indian tribes listed
above in Consultation.
Dated: December 2, 2004
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 04-27786 Filed 12-17-04]
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