[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 237 (Wednesday, December 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68949-68950]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-30569]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: U.S. Department 
of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco, CA

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), 43 CFR 10.8 (f), of the 
intent to repatriate a cultural item in the possession of the U.S. 
Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco, 
CA, that meets the definition of sacred object under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of 
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the 
cultural item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    The cultural item is a braided scalp with a decorative covering of 
red wool and contrasting blue wool cross.
    In 1876, Corporal William O. Taylor acquired the scalp under 
unknown circumstances while serving as a member of General George A. 
Custer's Sioux Expedition. The scalp was subsequently acquired by Mr. 
Alexander Acevedo. On April 4, 1995, Butterfield and Butterfield 
Auction House, San Francisco, CA, held a sale of items under Mr. 
Acevedo's control. The estimated sale price of the scalp was listed in 
the auction catalog as between $3,000 and $4,000. On May 5, 1995, the 
scalp was sold to Ripley's Entertainment, Orlando, FL, for $7,150.
    Accompanying the scalp in the auction catalog was a pipe tomahawk, 
also acquired by Corporal Taylor in 1876. A faded label attached to the 
pipe tomahawk reads, ``A Black Hills Indian Tomahawk and Pipe/Captured 
by ... he was ... killed ... and scalped the ... 35 years ... August 
19, 1876.'' The auction catalog listed the battle of Slim Buttes as the 
source of the pipe tomahawk. It is believed that Corporal Taylor 
acquired the scalp and the pipe tomahawk after the battle of Slim 
Buttes. The pipe tomahawk is not considered to be subject to 
repatriation under NAGPRA.
    On April 3, 1996, at the request of the United States Attorney's 
Office for the Northern District of California, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, San Francisco, CA, began an investigation into the 
trafficking of Native American scalps by Butterfield and Butterfield 
Auction House. On July 19, 1996, Ripley's Entertainment released 
custody of the scalp to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. The 
scalp was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Laboratory 
Division, Hair and Fiber Section, Washington, DC, for examination. 
Based on morphological characteristics, the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation determined that the hair on the scalp exhibits mongoloid 
characteristics, a classification that encompasses Native American 
hair.
    Historic records indicate that the battle of Slim Buttes occurred 
on September 9-10, 1876, when forces led by Captain Anson Mills 
encountered a village of about 37 Minniconjou lodges. The battle was 
soon joined by warriors from nearby Sans Arc, Brule, and Cheyenne 
camps. Lakota oral tradition indicates that all of the tribal 
participants in the battle of Slim Buttes belonged to the Mnikoju 
(Minniconjou) and Itazipco (Sans Arc) bands. Descendants of the Mnikoju 
(Minniconjou) and Itazipco (Sans Arc) bands that participated in the 
battle of Slim Buttes are included in the present-day Cheyenne River 
Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota.
    In 1994, representatives of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the 
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe 
of South Dakota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, 
South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, 
South Dakota; and Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of 
Nebraska signed a memorandum of agreement that authorized 
representatives of any of the signatory tribes to speak on behalf of 
all five Indian tribes.
    In 2002, a representative of the signatory tribes reviewed the 
information pertaining to the scalp and concluded that the scalp was a 
war trophy taken by one of the Mnikoju (Minniconjou) or Itazipco (Sans 
Arc) warriors from one of their traditional enemies, possibly the 
Arikara, Pawnee, or Crow. The representative of the signatory tribes 
identified the scalp as innately sacred. Among the Lakota, scalping is 
a way of showing contempt for an enemy's prowess in war. The 
Iwa'kiciwacipi, or scalp dance, was performed to punish the individual 
from whom the scalp was taken. Another ceremony must be performed after 
a period of time in order to release the captured spirit of the 
individual from whom the scalp was taken. The representative of the 
signatory tribes has requested that the scalp be returned in order to 
perform the spirit-releasing ceremony. The representative of the 
signatory tribes also indicated that the signatory tribes do not intend 
to preclude repatriation of the scalp to any other federally recognized 
Indian tribe. The signatory tribes will immediately withdraw their 
request at any time that any federally recognized Indian tribe submits 
a competing claim to repatriate the scalp.
    Officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco, 
CA, have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C.

[[Page 68950]]

3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent the physical 
remains of one individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco, CA, also have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is insufficient 
evidence to reasonably trace a shared group identity between the human 
remains and an Indian tribe. Officials of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, San Francisco, CA, also have determined that, pursuant 
to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the cultural item is a specific ceremonial 
object needed by traditional Native American religious leaders for the 
practice of traditional Native American religions by their present-day 
adherents. Finally, officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
San Francisco, CA, have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be 
reasonably traced between the sacred object and the Cheyenne River 
Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau 
Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the 
State of Minnesota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, 
South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, 
South Dakota; and Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of 
Nebraska.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the sacred object should contact Special 
Agent Brian J. Guy, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 450 Golden Gate 
Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, telephone (415) 553-7400, before 
January 9, 2004. Repatriation of the sacred object to the Cheyenne 
River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; 
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Sioux Indian 
Community in the State of Minnesota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine 
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud 
Indian Reservation, South Dakota; and Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee 
Reservation of Nebraska may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco, CA, is 
responsible for notifying the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the 
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Tribe of Montana; 
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Sioux Indian 
Community in the State of Minnesota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine 
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Rosebud 
Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Santee 
Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska; Standing Rock Sioux 
Tribe of North & South Dakota; and Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort 
Berthold Reservation, North Dakota that this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 5, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-30569 Filed 12-9-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-50-S