Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains and Associated Funerary Objects from Minnesota in the Control of the St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul, MN

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 75 (Monday, April 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19510-19511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-10355]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects from Minnesota in the Control of the 
St. Paul District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul, MN

AGENCY: National Park Service

ACTION: Notice

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the control of the St. Paul District, U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, St. Paul, MN.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers and Hamline University Osteology Laboratory 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, the 
Upper Sioux Indian Community of the Upper Sioux Reservation, the Crow 
Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, Lower Sioux 
Mdewakanton Community, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community, Prairie 
Island Community, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, and Santee Sioux Tribe 
of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska.
    In 1969, human remains representing a minimum of 35 individuals 
were recovered from the Gull Lake dam site (12 CA37) near Brainerd, MN 
during legally authorized archeological excavations by the University 
of Minnesota and the Minnesota Historical Society prior to improvements 
at the Gull Lake dam. No known individuals were identified. The 1,060 
associated funerary objects include ceramic vessels, ceramic sherds, 
pieces of lithic debris, stone tools and tool fragments, two wood 
charcoal samples, and fragments of canine, beaver, bear, avian, and 
moose bone.
    Based on continuities of material culture in ceramic styles and 
construction, archeological evidence indicates long-term occupation of 
this area by the same cultural group, from the archeologically-defined 
Brainerd to Kathio-Clam River-Blackduck to Psinomani. The Psinomani, 
present during the Late Woodland and early Contact periods, are 
generally regarded as the ancestors of the Dakota. Historic documents 
indicate that Eastern Dakota bands (Mdewakanton, Wahpekute, Sisseton, 
and Wahpeton), and related

[[Page 19511]]

groups (Teton, Yankton, and Yanktonai), occupied the headwaters area of 
the Mississippi into the contact period. Archeological evidence, Dakota 
oral tradition, and the continuities of material culture, together with 
the well-established and historically documented presence of these 
Eastern Dakota bands, particularly the Mdewakanton and Wahpeton, in the 
Gull Lake area during the early contact period indicates the Eastern 
Dakota are affiliated with the burials in this particular mound group.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District have determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above 
represent the physical remains of a minimum of 35 individuals of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. 
Paul District have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(2), the 1,060 objects listed 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. Lastly, officials of 
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District have determined 
that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship of shared 
group identity which can be reasonably traced between these Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the 
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, the 
Upper Sioux Indian Community of the Upper Sioux Reservation, the Crow 
Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, Lower Sioux 
Mdewakanton Community, Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux community, Prairie 
Island Community, Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe, and Santee Sioux Tribe 
of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Sisseton-Wahpeton 
Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, the Upper Sioux Indian 
Community of the Upper Sioux Reservation, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of 
the Crow Creek Reservation, Lower Sioux Mdewakanton Community, Shakopee 
Mdewakanton Sioux community, Prairie Island Community, Flandreau Santee 
Sioux Tribe, and Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of 
Nebraska. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes 
itself to be culturally affiliated with these human remains and 
associated funerary objects should contact Ms. Sissel Johannessen, 
Environmental Resources Section, St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers, 
190-5th Street East, St. Paul, MN 55101; telephone: (612) 290-5263 
before May 20, 1998. Repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake 
Traverse Reservation, the Upper Sioux Indian Community of the Upper 
Sioux Reservation, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek 
Reservation, Lower Sioux Mdewakanton Community, Shakopee Mdewakanton 
Sioux community, Prairie Island Community, Flandreau Santee Sioux 
Tribe, and Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska may 
begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
Dated: April 14, 1998.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 98-10355 Filed 4-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F