[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]


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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

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    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