[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 168 (Tuesday, August 29, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52442-52443]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-21977]


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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 Cherokee and Plymouth Counties, IA 
in the Possession of the Office of the State Archaeologist, University 
of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

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 possession of the Office of the State 
Archaeologist, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR

[[Page 52443]]

10.2 (c). The determinations within this notice are the sole 
responsibility of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has 
control of these Native American human remains and associated funerary 
objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Office 
of the State Archaeologist, University of Iowa, professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the 
Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.
    Around 1900, human remains representing one individual were removed 
from an unknown site by an unknown collector and donated to the 
Davenport Academy of Sciences, now the Putnam Museum of History and 
Natural Science. In 1986, these human remains were transferred to the 
Office of the State Archaeologist, University of Iowa. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Physical anthropological evidence, especially the shape and 
measurements of the skull, indicates that this individual is Native 
American, and is consistent with ancestral Arikara populations of the 
Bad River I phase of the Post-Contact Coalescent variant. The records 
of the Putnam Museum of History and Natural Science indicate that these 
remains may have come from the Dakotas. In the absence of additional 
evidence, geographical and physical anthropology information has been 
used to determine the cultural affiliation between these human remains 
and the Arikara, who today are members of the Three Affiliated Tribes 
of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.
    In the 1950's, human remains representing one individual were 
removed from site 13CK21, Cherokee County, IA, by Reynold Ruppe under 
the auspices of the Northwest Chapter of the Iowa Archaeological 
Society, and transferred to the Office of the State Archaeologist, 
University of Iowa, in 1989. In 1993, human remains representing three 
individuals were removed from this site by the Office of the State 
Archaeologist during a salvage excavation of a flood-damaged portion of 
the site. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    In 1964, human remains representing three individuals were removed 
from site 13PM172, Plymouth County, IA, during excavations by David 
Lilly and Roger Banks. These remains were transferred from the Sioux 
City Public Museum to the Office of the State Archaeologist, University 
of Iowa, in 1994. No known individuals were identified. The one 
associated funerary object is a Mill Creek pottery vessel.
    Sites 13CK21 and 13PM172 both date to the Mill Creek period, circa 
A.D. 1000-1200. Mill Creek manifestations have long been grouped within 
the Initial variant of the Middle Missouri Tradition. Mill Creek 
settlement organization, subsistence economy, and artifact assemblages 
are similar to those of other Initial Middle Missouri components in 
South Dakota. The Mandan and Hidatsa are thought to be the long-term 
residents of the Middle Missouri region, and some archeologists have 
suggested the Initial variant of the Middle Missouri tradition is 
possibly ancestral to the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes. Archeological and 
ethnohistorical evidence linking later Middle Missouri groups with 
these tribes, presently members of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the 
Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota, is much stronger than evidence 
available for the earlier Initial variant groups.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Office 
of the State Archaeologist, University of Iowa, have determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above 
represent the physical remains of eight individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Office of the State Archeologist, University 
of Iowa, also have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), the 
one object listed above is 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 Office of the 
State Archeologist, University of Iowa, have determined that, pursuant 
to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship of shared group identity 
that can be reasonably traced between these Native American human 
remains and associated funerary object and the Three Affiliated Tribes 
of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota. This notice has been 
sent to officials of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota. Representatives of any other Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these human 
remains and associated funerary object should contact Shirley Schermer, 
Burials Program Director, Office of the State Archaeologist, Eastlawn, 
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, telephone (319) 335-2400, 
before September 28, 2000. Repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary object to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort 
Berthold Reservation, North Dakota, may begin after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: August 16, 2000.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships
[FR Doc. 00-21977 Filed 8-28-00; 8:45 am]
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