[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7939-7940]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-2321]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the Nebraska State 
Historical Society, Lincoln, NE

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 Nebraska State Historical 
Society, Lincoln, NE.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 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 and associated funerary 
objects was made by Nebraska State Historical Society professional 
staff in consultation with representatives of the Ponca Tribe of 
Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
    In 1956, human remains representing one individual recovered from 
site 25PT30 in Platte County, NE, were donated to the Nebraska State 
Historical Society by a private individual. No known individual was 
identified. The 17 associated funerary objects are 1 stone scraper, 10 
limestone fragments, and 6 animal bones.
    From cranial measurements, the Nebraska State Historical Society 
has determined that the individual is Native American and is culturally 
affiliated with the Ponca. Historical records indicate that the Ponca 
hunted in the region and occasionally lived among the Pawnee, whose 
homeland includes Platte County. The specific attribution of this 
individual as Ponca and not Pawnee is based on statistical analysis of 
cranial measurements compared with known populations of both tribes.
    In 1961, human remains representing one individual were uncovered 
during road construction in Knox County, NE. The remains from site 
25KX13 were recovered by Nebraska State Historical Society archeologist 
James Marshall and were transferred to the Nebraska State Historical 
Society. No known individual was identified. No funerary objects are 
present.
    Oral history indicates that the individual is Native American and 
is culturally affiliated with the Ponca.
    The remains from this site were reported to the Nebraska State 
Historical Society by Ponca Chief Lea Peniska, who identified the 
remains as that of a Ponca person. This portion of Knox County is 
historically the territory of the Ponca. Members of the Ponca tribes 
have indicated to the staff of the Nebraska State Historical Society 
that Mr. Peniska was very knowledgeable with regard to Ponca traditions 
and burial locations.
    Between 1963 and 1980, human remains representing one individual 
were recovered by the University of South Dakota from previously looted 
graves on a ridge called the Niobara Bridge, site 25KX207, in Knox 
County, NE, and were transferred to the Nebraska State Historical 
Society in 1989. The Nebraska State Historical Society also collected 
material from the surface of the same site in 1980. No known individual 
was identified. The 247 associated funerary objects are modified and 
unmodified shell and animal bone, ceramic sherds, glass beads, stone 
tools, metal tools and ornaments, chipped stone debris, ground stone 
tools, natural stone, ocher, and wood.
    Archeological evidence and historical documentation indicates that 
the individual is Native American and is culturally affiliated with the 
Ponca. Based on the quantity of Euro-American trade goods, the site is 
dated to the post-contact period, and is located in the heart of 
territory inhabited exclusively

[[Page 7940]]

by the Ponca from the 1700's to the 1870's.
    In 1987, a private individual found human remains representing one 
individual, a female of approximately 50 years of age, eroding from the 
bank of Clear Creek, Butler County, NE. The remains were transferred to 
the Nebraska State Historical Society by the officials of the Butler 
County Extension Office and the Butler County Sheriff's Office. No 
known individual was identified. The two associated funerary objects 
include a mussel shell and a fragmented metal kettle or pail.
    Cranial measurements indicate that the individual is Native 
American and is culturally affiliated with the Ponca. The site is near 
the Pawnee Linwood site and the Ponca are known to have lived here with 
the Pawnee in the 19th century. The specific attribution of this 
individual as Ponca and not Pawnee is based on statistical analysis of 
cranial measurements compared with known populations of both tribes.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Nebraska 
State Historical Society have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical remains 
of four individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the 
Nebraska State Historical Society also have determined that, pursuant 
to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), the 266 objects listed above 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. 
Lastly, officials of the Nebraska State Historical Society 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 objects and the 
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Ponca Tribe of 
Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Representatives of 
any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated 
with these human remains should contact Rob Bozell, Associate Director, 
Nebraska State Historical Society, 1500 R Street, P.O. Box 82554, 
Lincoln, NE 68501-2554, telephone (402) 471-4789, before February 26, 
2001. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
to the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma may begin after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.

    Dated: January 19, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-2321 Filed 1-25-01; 8:45 am]
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