[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12373-12374]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6214]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Justice, 
United States Marshals Service, Western District of Oklahoma, Oklahoma 
City, OK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, Sec. 5, of 
the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of Justice, United 
States Marshals Service, Western District of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, 
OK. These human remains and associated funerary objects were removed 
from Greer County, OK.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003, Sec. 5 
(d)(3). 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 United 
States Marshals Service professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Caddo Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation, 
Oklahoma; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Quapaw 
Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, 
Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma. Representatives of the Oklahoma 
Archeological Survey; Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History; and 
U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs were also 
consulted.
    At an unspecified date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were collected from a specific site in or around Greer 
County, OK. On June 30, 2001, the human remains were seized by the 
United States Marshals Service as part of an asset forfeiture from a 
private residence in Greer County, OK. No known individual was 
identified. The one associated funerary object is an olivella shell 
bead.
    Based on the general condition of the human remains and the lack of 
historic period artifacts in the collection that was seized, it is 
believed that these human remains and associated funerary object were 
originally interred between 3000 B.C. and A.D. 1500. Archeological 
evidence indicates that during the period from 3000 B.C. to A.D. 1500, 
the area including present-day Greer County, OK, was occupied by 
semisedentary horticulturalists believed to be the ancestors of members 
of the present-day Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco 
& Tawakonie), Oklahoma.
    Other items seized as part of the asset forfeiture, including 
beads, grinding stones, flake tools, scrapers, and arrowheads, do not 
appear to meet the statutory definition of ``associated funerary 
objects.'' Officials of the United States Marshals Service have 
determined, pursuant to standard practice regarding personal property, 
as set forth in 28 CFR 0.111 (i) and the Attorney General's Guidelines 
on Seized and Forfeited Property (July 1990), that these items are 
subject to transfer to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs.
    Officials of the United States Marshals Service have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec. 2 (9-10), the human remains 
listed above represent the physical remains of one individual of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of the United States Marshals Service also 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec. 2 (3)(A), 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 United States 
Marshals Service have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec. 
2 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be

[[Page 12374]]

reasonably traced between these Native American human remains and 
associated funerary object and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes 
(Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated 
funerary object should contact Mr. John Laster, Deputy U.S. Marshal, 
United States Marshals Service, 200 NW 4th Street, 2nd Floor, Oklahoma 
City, OK, 73102, telephone (405) 231-4206, before April 14, 2003. 
Repatriation of these human remains and associated funerary object to 
the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), 
Oklahoma may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The United States Marshals Service is responsible for notifying the 
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Cheyenne-
Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma; Choctaw Nation 
of Oklahama; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Quapaw Tribe of Indians, 
Oklahoma; and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & 
Tawakonie), Oklahoma that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 28, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 03-6214 Filed 3-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S