81 FR 19625 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of Defense Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Omaha, NE and State Archaeological Research Center, Rapid City, SD

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 65 (April 5, 2016)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District (Omaha District), in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request to the Omaha District. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19625-19626]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07770]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20582; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of 
Defense Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Omaha, NE and State 
Archaeological Research Center, Rapid City, SD

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District (Omaha 
District), in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed 
in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. 
Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request to the Omaha 
District. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control 
of the cultural items to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or 
Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Omaha District at the 
address in this notice by May 5, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Ms. Sandra Barnum, U.S. Army Engineer District, Omaha, ATTN: 
CENWO-PM-AB, 1616 Capital Avenue, Omaha, NE 68102, telephone, (402) 
995-2674, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given in accordance with 
the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the Omaha District, Omaha, NE., that meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item(s)

    Cultural items consisting of 64 unassociated funerary objects were 
removed from site 39CA4, the Anton Rygh Site, in Campbell County, SD. 
They are presently located at the South Dakota State Archaeological 
Research Center (SARC) and are under the control of the Omaha District.
    The Anton Rygh site was a large fortified village on the east bank 
of the Missouri River and first reported by W.H. Over Museum in the 
1920s. Excavations at the site began in 1932, and over the course of 
the next 50 years, over 100 individuals have reportedly been removed 
from the site. A minimum of 66 of these individuals were removed 
between 1957 and 1959 during excavations sponsored by the Smithsonian 
Institution River Basic Survey (RBS). A total of 15 individuals from 
the 1957 to 1959 excavations are stored at SARC and reported in a 
separate Notice of Inventory Completion.
    SARC currently has 64 funerary objects from the RBS collections 
that are not associated with any individuals currently held by SARC and 
under control of the Omaha District. The excavation records clearly 
show these items as having been removed from the burial of a specific 
individual. These 64 unassociated funerary objects are 13 scapula bone 
hoes and knives, 1 bone awl, 1 bone whistle, 1 lithic biface, 1 lithic 
projectile point, 1 dog cranium, and 46 ceramic sherds.
    The Anton Rygh site is a Plains Village Tradition multi-component 
earth lodge village. House structures, burials, cache pits, 
fortification features, and artifact types suggest at least two levels 
of occupation. The levels represent an extended Middle Missouri (A.D. 
1000-1500) variant while the upper levels represent Extended (A.D. 
1500-1675) and Post Contact (A.D. 1675-1780) Coalescent variants. 
Funerary objects were removed from burials throughout all levels of the 
site, but their temporal differentiation cannot be determined based on 
current records.
    Archeological, anthropological, and physical anthropological 
evidence indicate the Extended Middle Missouri are ancestral Mandan, 
and the Extended Coalescent and Post Contact Coalescent are ancestral 
Arikara. Both the Mandan and Arikara are represented today by the Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. Consultation with 
the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation indicates 
that these objects represent the kinds of objects that are placed with 
individuals at the time of death.

Determinations Made by the Omaha District

    Officials of the Omaha District have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 64 cultural items 
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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects and Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort 
Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Ms. Sandra Barnum, U.S. Army Engineer 
District, Omaha, ATTN: CENWO-PM-AB, 1616 Capital Avenue, Omaha, NE 
68102, telephone, (402) 995-2674, email [email protected], 
by May 5, 2016. After that date, if no additional claimants have come 
forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary objects to 
the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North 
Dakota.
    The Omaha District is responsible for notifying the Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota, that 
this notice has been published.


[[Page 19626]]


    Dated: March 10, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-07770 Filed 4-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P