[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 162 (Friday, August 21, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44923-44924]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-22539]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession
of the Chippewa National Forest, USDA Forest Service, Cass Lake, MN
AGENCY: National Park Service
ACTION: Notice
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Notice is hereby given under the Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act, 43 CFR 10.10 (a)(3), of the intent to repatriate
cultural items in the possession of the Chippewa National Forest, USDA
Forest Service which meet the definition of ``unassociated funerary
objects'' under Section 2 of the Act.
The 15 cultural items consist of a sherd from a ceramic mortuary
vessel, fragmented and burned bone (fish and mammal) from a
concentration associated with a funerary timber crib, a fragment of
birchbark, and charcoal and charred wood fragments with soil matrix
from a burned timber crib surrounding a burial.
In 1977, these items were recovered during legally authorized
excavations of portions of two burial mounds at the Winnibigoshish Dam
site (21 IC 4) near
[[Page 44924]]
Winnibigoshish Dam, Chippewa National Forest, Itasca County, MN. The
human remains removed at that time from these excavations were reburied
in a nearby location.
Based on radiocarbon dates and ceramic style, these cultural items
have been determined to date to the Blackduck phase occupation (ca.
1000 A.D.). Based on continuities of pottery styles, manner of
interment, continuities of tools, geographic location, reliance on wild
rice and fish as food staples, anthropological sources, and historical
documentation, the Blackduck culture is a likely antecedent for the
historic and present-day Assiniboine, Cree, and Ojibwe cultures.
Officials of the USDA Forest Service have determined that, pursuant
to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2)(ii), these 15 cultural items 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 an Native American individual. Officials
of the USDA Forest Service have also determined that, pursuant to 43
CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship of shared group identity which
can be reasonably traced between these items and the Assiniboine and
Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation, Bad River Band of the Lake
Superior Chippewa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community of the Sault Ste.
Marie Band of Chippewa Indians, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians,
Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Fond du Lac Band
of Chippewa Indians, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Grand Portage Band
of Chippewa Indians, Grand Traverse Band of Ottowa and Chippewa
Indians, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of L'Anse and Ontonagon Bands of
Chippewa Indians, Lac Courte Orielles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Indians, Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Lac
Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Leech Lake Band of
Chippewa Indians, Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Red
Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, Sault Ste. Marie
Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Sokaogon Chippewa Community of the Mole Lake
Band of Chippewa Indians, St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin,
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and White Earth Band of
Chippewa Indians.
This notice has been sent to officials of the Assiniboine and Sioux
Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation, Bad River Band of the Lake
Superior Chippewa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community of the Sault Ste.
Marie Band of Chippewa Indians, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa Indians,
Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Fond du Lac Band
of Chippewa Indians, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Grand Portage Band
of Chippewa Indians, Grand Traverse Band of Ottowa and Chippewa
Indians, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of L'Anse and Ontonagon Bands of
Chippewa Indians, Lac Courte Orielles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
Indians, Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Lac
Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Leech Lake Band of
Chippewa Indians, Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota
Chippewa Tribe, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Red
Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, Sault Ste. Marie
Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Sokaogon Chippewa Community of the Mole Lake
Band of Chippewa Indians, St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin,
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, and White Earth Band of
Chippewa Indians. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these objects should
contact Steve Eubanks, Forest Supervisor, Chippewa National Forest,
United States Forest Service, Route 3, Box 244, Cass Lake, MN 56633,
telephone (218) 335-8600 before September 21, 1998. Repatriation of
these objects to the Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians may begin
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations
within this notice.
Dated: August 13, 1998.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 98-22539 Filed 8-20-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F