[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 188 (Thursday, September 26, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 50505]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24686]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
in the Possession of Chickasaw National Recreation Area, National Park 
Service, Sulphur, OK

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), 25 U.S.C. 
3003 (d), of the completion of an inventory of human remains in the 
possession of the National Park Service, Chickasaw National Recreation 
Area, Sulphur, OK.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by National 
Park Service professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
the Caddo Indian Tribe, Pawnee Indian Tribe, and Wichita and Affiliated 
Tribes.
    In 1942, human remains representing one adult male was donated to 
the Chickasaw National Recreation Area by H.R. Antle, an amateur 
archeologist in Oklahoma. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present. The remains, a cranium, were 
recovered from a site approximately 35 miles northeast of park 
boundaries and located near the banks of the Big Sandy River.
    In 1958, human remains representing one adult male was donated to 
the Chickasaw National Recreation Area by O.K. Lowrance, a local 
rancher. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present. The remains, a cranium, were recovered from a site 
near State Site 34MR10, located near Lowrance Springs and approximately 
10 miles south of park boundaries.
    Documentation of the context of these remains is incomplete. 
However, archeological examination of the remains dates the occupation 
of the sites to ca. 800-1500 AD. Anthropological evidence indicates 
that Caddoan language-family groups were present in the area of these 
sites during the pre-contact period, making the Caddo and the Wichita 
likely affiliates. Additionally, the Caddo and Pawnee were documented 
as being in the area by the 1500s and the Wichita confederacy by the 
beginning of the 1700s. Presently, the Wichita claim the entire area 
surrounding the sites as their ancestral homeland.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the National 
Park Service have determined that pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the 
human remains listed above represent the physical remains of two 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the National Park 
Service have also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), 
there is a relationship of shared group identity which can be 
reasonably trace between these Native American human remains and the 
Caddo Indian Tribe, Pawnee Indian Tribe, and Wichita and Affiliated 
Tribes.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Caddo Indian Tribe, 
Pawnee Indian Tribe, and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes. Representatives 
of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally 
affiliated with these human remains should contact John Welch, 
Superintendent, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, P.O. Box 201, 
Sulphur, OK 73086; telephone: (405) 622-3161, before October 28, 1996. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Caddo Indian Tribe, Pawnee 
Indian Tribe, and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes may begin after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: September 20, 1996.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 96-24686 Filed 9-25-96; 8:45 am]
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