82 FR 44458 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Omaha, NE

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 183 (September 22, 2017)

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 82, Number 183 (Friday, September 22, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44458-44459]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-20295]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0023937; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Omaha District, Omaha, NE

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 October 23, 2017.

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.

[[Page 44459]]

    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 Items

    In 1953, two cultural items were removed from the Cottonwood site 
(39HU43) in Hughes County, SD, and are presently located at the South 
Dakota State Archaeological Research Center (SARC), under the 
managerial control of the Omaha District. The Cottonwood site was 
excavated in 1953 by Wesley R. Hurt and Todd G. Willy. The excavation 
was a joint effort between the W.H. Over Museum-Vermillion, the South 
Dakota Archaeological Commission, and the U.S. National Park Service. 
At least two sets of human remains were recovered and stored at the 
W.H. Over Museum until 1974, when they were moved to SARC. In 1987, the 
University of Tennessee-Knoxville received the human remains and 
conducted an inventory before returning them to SARC in 1988. The human 
remains were then housed at SARC until May 20, 1994, when they were 
repatriated to the Sioux. SARC currently has two funerary objects that 
excavation records show as having been removed from the burial of a 
specific individual from site 39HU43. The two unassociated funerary 
objects are 1 unmodified wolf canine tooth and 1 ceramic body sherd.
    The Cottonwood site (39HU43) is a farm settlement on a low terrace 
above the Missouri River that was probably occupied between 1870 and 
1880, which falls into the Historic Sioux (Teton/Lakota) (1867-1900). 
Peoria Bottom was occupied in the early 1870s by 200 to 300 Native 
Americans, as well as by the first Protestant mission in the area, 
which included a boarding school for the Lakota Sioux. The Cottonwood 
site included 15 circular houses and several outdoor cache pit 
depressions. Three houses and one outdoor cache pit were excavated. The 
houses had basin-shaped tipi floors, in common with late-nineteenth 
century Lakota farm settlements. Gun cartridges were also recovered at 
the site, not in association with the burials, but which support the 
Historic Sioux occupation.
    In 1962, six cultural items were removed from the Fort Thompson 
Burials II site (39BF10) in Buffalo County, SD, and are presently 
located at the South Dakota State Archaeological Research Center 
(SARC), under the managerial control of the Omaha District. The Fort 
Thompson Burials II site (39BF10) has six mound groups spread out along 
the left bank of the Missouri River on a terrace in the Big Bend area, 
downstream from Fort Thompson. Early in the 1960s, several burials were 
disturbed during construction of the Big Bend Dam. In December of 1962, 
Robert Grant and Joseph B. Brandon, State Archaeological Commission-
Vermillion, SD, recovered the human remains and funerary objects. At 
least 4 sets of human remains were recovered. The human remains were 
stored at the W.H. Over Museum until 1974, when they were moved to the 
Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) at Fort Meade. In 1979, the 
University of Tennessee-Knoxville received the human remains and 
conducted an inventory before returning them to the OSA. The human 
remains were then repatriated in 1982 to the Sioux. SARC currently 
holds six funerary objects that excavation records show as having been 
removed from the burial of a specific individual from site 39BF10. The 
six unassociated funerary objects are 2 linen textiles; 2 brass 
buttons; 1 wrought-iron coffin nail; and 1 bison femur fragment.
    The Fort Thompson Burials II site (39BF10) was most likely occupied 
post-1860, which falls into the Early Reservation Period and is 
associated with the Crow Creek Indian Reservation, inhabited by the 
Santee and Winnebago, who were moved to Nebraska in the mid-1860s. In 
the 1870s, the reservation was inhabited by the Yanktonai. The 
unassociated funerary objects and manner of burial are most likely 
affiliated with the Yanktonai, who occupied the reservation for a 
longer period of time post-1860, than the Santee and Winnebago.
    The Yanktonai today are represented by the Yankton Sioux Tribe of 
South Dakota. Consultation with the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota 
indicates that these kinds of funerary objects are placed with 
individuals at the time of death.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

    Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 8 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 the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South 
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 October 23, 2017. After that date, if no additional claimants have 
come forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary objects 
to the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, is responsible 
for notifying the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota that this notice 
has been published.

    Dated: August 2, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-20295 Filed 9-21-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P