Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, Cheyenne, WY

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Page 20487]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07387]



[[Page 20487]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N7058; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042591; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, Cheyenne, WY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Land Management, Wyoming State Office (BLM Wyoming State Office) has 
completed an inventory of associated funerary objects and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the associated 
funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the associated funerary objects in this notice 
may occur on or after May 18, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the associated 
funerary objects in this notice to Tanya Thrift, State Director Wyoming 
Bureau of Land Management, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, WY 82009, 
email blm_wy_copywork@blm.gov.

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 
BLM Wyoming State Office 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

    Based on the information available, one lot of associated funerary 
objects were removed from archeological sites 48LN1296, 48CR325, 
48SU2019, 48UT920, 48SU301, 48UT63, and 48SW5860. The one lot of 
associated funerary objects include but are not limited to beads, 
lithics and stone tools, soil samples, debitage/flakes, faunal remains, 
projectile points, bone awls, ground stone, fire cracked rock, 
charcoal, and shell. The cultural items were removed from archeological 
sites in Wyoming during excavations before November 16, 1990. These 
items are currently curated at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, 
Wyoming.
    Human remains and associated funerary objects from archeological 
sites 48LN1296, 48CR325, 48SU2019, 48UT920, 48SU301, 48UT63, and 
48SW5860 were published in a Notice of Inventory Completion, published 
in the Federal Register on June 11, 2025 (90 FR 24652-24654) and have 
been repatriated. This notice covers additional associated funerary 
objects recently discovered.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available 
about the associated funerary objects described in this notice.

Determinations

    The BLM Wyoming State Office has determined that:
    •  The one lot of 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 
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 
Montana; Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of 
Montana; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, 
South Dakota; Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, 
Montana; Crow Tribe of Montana; Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind 
River Reservation, Wyoming; Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort 
Belknap Reservation of Montana; Kiowa Tribe (previously listed as Kiowa 
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma); Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne 
Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe; Pawnee Nation of 
Oklahoma; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South 
Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; and the 
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the associated funerary 
objects in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative 
identified in this notice under ADDRESSES. 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 associated funerary objects described in this 
notice to a requestor may occur on or after May 18, 2026. If competing 
requests for repatriation are received, the BLM Wyoming State Office 
must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint repatriation of the associated funerary objects are 
considered a single request and not competing requests. The BLM Wyoming 
State Office 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.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: April 8, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-07387 Filed 4-15-26; 8:45 am]
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