[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 241 (Friday, December 13, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 65597]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-31741]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
in the Possession of the National Park Service, Little Bighorn 
Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, MT

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, Little Bighorn Battlefield 
National Monument, Crow Agency, MT.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by National 
Park Service professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation of Wyoming, 
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Montana, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of 
South Dakota, Crow Tribe of Montana, Northern Cheyenne Tribe of 
Montana, Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, Rosebud Sioux Tribe of 
South Dakota, Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska, Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux 
Tribe of Sioux Dakota, Three Affiliated Tribes (Arikara, Hidatsa, and 
Mandan), and Upper Sioux Indian Community of Minnesota. Representatives 
of the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana were invited to consultation meetings 
but did not attend.
    In the 1890s, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were recovered from an unknown location in the area of 
Little Bighorn Battlefield by Howard Means, a surveyor. No individuals 
were identified. No associated funerary objects are present. Mr. Means' 
great-grandnephew and wife returned the remains, consisting of a skull 
and 2 femora, to the park in February 1996.
    Results of non-destructive analysis of the remains suggest 
affiliation with the Sonota complex, a Middle Woodland group that 
occupied the western reaches of present-day North and South Dakota, 
including the Missouri River Basin, from approximately 90 AD to 600 AD. 
In general, the remains appear to be affiliated with Woodland groups as 
well as late prehistoric groups from the Northwestern Plains such as 
the Blackfeet, Crow, and Hidatsa. Historically, this area was inhabited 
by the Blackfeet, Crow, and Hidatsa, as well as the Arikara, Cheyenne, 
Mandan, and Sioux. Physical anthropological evidence suggests that the 
remains are most likely affiliated with the Crow or Hidatsa. Oral 
evidence from all tribes attending consultation meetings, and from the 
Blackfeet as well, supports this conclusion.
    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 a minimum 
of one individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the 
National Park Service have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(2), there is a relationship of shared group identity which can be 
reasonably traced between these Native American human remains and the 
Crow Tribe and the Hidatsa of the Three Affiliated Tribes.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Arapahoe Tribe of the 
Wind River Reservation of Wyoming, Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of 
Montana, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, Crow Tribe of 
Montana, Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana, Oglala Sioux Tribe of 
South Dakota, Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, Santee Sioux Tribe 
of Nebraska, Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of Sioux Dakota, Three 
Affiliated Tribes (Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan), and Upper Sioux 
Indian Community of Minnesota, and the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these human remains should contact Gerard A. 
Baker, Superintendent, Little Bighorn National Monument, P.O. Box 39, 
Crow Agency, MT 59022; telephone: (406) 638-2621, before January 13, 
1997. Repatriation of the human remains to the Crow Tribe and Three 
Affiliated Tribes will begin after that if no additional claimants come 
forward.
Dated: December 9, 1996,
Veletta Canouts,
Acting, Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Deputy Manager, Archeology & Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 96-31741 Filed 12-12-96; 8:45 am]
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