[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 33 (Friday, February 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 10742]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-4010]



[[Page 10742]]

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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 Kootenai 
National Forest, USDA-Forest Service, Libby, 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), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the possession of the Kootenai National Forest, 
USDA-Forest Service, Libby, MT.
    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 was made by the 
University of Montana, Department of Anthropology and the Kootenai 
National Forest professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead 
Reservation, Montana.
    In 1998, human remains representing one individual were recovered 
from a draw-down zone of the Koocanusa Reservoir located north of 
Murray Creek in the Rexford District of the Kootenai National Forest, 
Lincoln County, MT, by an unknown individual. The remains eroded out of 
the cut-bank of the reservoir. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Based on ethnographic, historical and geographic information, the 
individual has been identified as Native American. The remains were 
determined to date to the historic period. Oral history of the 
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes indicates that the area from 
where the remains were removed was once inhabited by the Kootenai 
people. The Kootenai people have a place name for this specific area, 
which has been handed down orally throughout Kootenai history. The 
Hellgate Treaty of 1855 also recognizes this area as the aboriginal 
territory of the Kootenai people.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Kootenai 
National Forest, USDA-Forest Service have determined that, pursuant to 
43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of the Kootenai National Forest, USDA-Forest Service also 
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 the Confederated Salish 
and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, Montana.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Confederated Salish 
and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, Montana. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these human remains should contact Rebecca 
S. Timmons, Forest Archaeologist, Kootenai National Forest, 1101 US 
Highway 2 West, Libby, MT 59923, telephone (406) 293-6211, before March 
17, 2001. Repatriation of the human remains to the Confederated Salish 
and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, Montana may begin 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: January 10, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships
[FR Doc. 01-4010 Filed 2-15-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F