[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 19 (Thursday, January 29, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4314-4315]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1884]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC

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, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains in the control of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC. 
The human remains were removed from the vicinity of Fort Robinson, NE.
    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 
Native American human remains. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Bureau of 
Indian Affairs professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 
of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe 
of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux 
Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule 
Reservation, South Dakota; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine 
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud 
Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee 
Reservation of Nebraska; Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake 
Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; 
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux 
Tribe of South Dakota.
    In 1879, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were recovered from the vicinity of Fort Robinson, Dawes and Sioux 
Counties, NE. Assistant Surgeon W.B. Brewster shipped the skull and 
mandible of the individual, along with the remains of eight other 
individuals, to the Army Medical Museum, Washington, DC, in 1880. At an 
unknown date, the human remains were acquired by Major General Joseph 
L. Bernier who had worked as a pathologist with the U.S. Army and had 
served several years cataloging the Army Medical Museum collections. 
Major General Bernier's son, Joseph Bernier, D.D.S., discovered the 
human remains in his father's personal effects and felt they should be 
returned to their homeland. In August 2002, Dr. Bernier donated the 
remains to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Southern Plains Region, Concho 
Agency, El Reno, OK. The National Museum of Health and Medicine, 
formerly the Army Medical Museum, has been contacted regarding the 
human remains and has not asserted control over them. Accompanying the 
human remains is a weathered 1.5-by-4-inch card with the following 
typed information: ``7023 Path. Series. Shot fracture and perforation 
of skull: one bullet entered thro [sic] right parietal, emerged thro 
[sic] left temporal; Cheyenne Indian, killed near Fort Robinson, 
Nebraska, January, 1879. W.B. Brewster, Asst. Surg. U.S.A.'' On the 
back of the card was written in pencil: ``D Knife.'' No known 
individual was identified. No funerary objects are present.
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs notified all Indian tribes that were 
likely to be culturally affiliated with the human remains or from whose 
aboriginal lands the human remains originated, including the Cheyenne-
Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne 
River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow 
Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South 
Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South 
Dakota; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian 
Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, 
South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, 
South Dakota; Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska; 
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South 
Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of 
North & South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. The 
notification stated that the Bureau of Indian Affairs had the human 
remains under its control and was beginning the process of determining 
the cultural affiliation of the human remains.
    Following consultation, representatives of the Cheyenne-Arapaho 
Tribes of Oklahoma and Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne 
Indian Reservation, Montana agreed that the human remains and 
accompanying card should be examined by the staff of the Smithsonian 
Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Repatriation Office. A 
review of the Army Medical Museum archives, now part of the National 
Museum of Health and Medicine, indicates that Path. Series 7023 was 
assigned to a skull of a Cheyenne male who was killed near Fort 
Robinson in 1879. The skull identified as Path. Series 7023 is 
unaccounted for in the National Museum of Health and Medicine 
collection. The paper, typing, and format of the card accompanying the 
human remains is similar to cards typically used by the Army Medical 
Museum. The pencilled note on the back of the card may refer to Dull 
Knife, the Cheyenne leader of the Fort Robinson breakout on January 9, 
1879. Dull Knife was nearly 70 years old at the time and survived the 
Fort Robinson breakout. Physical examination

[[Page 4315]]

indicates that the human remains are from a 25-30-year-old male. The 
condition of the skull indicates that it was obtained shortly after 
death. Measurements of the skull are nearly identical to the 
measurements for Path. Series 7023 in the Army Medical Museum archives. 
Comparison of measurements from the skull with measurements from skulls 
from several Plains tribes indicates that the Cheyenne and Sioux are 
the most likely groups for biological affinity. A discriminant analysis 
of the measurements indicates that the skull is much more similar to 
the Sioux group, but a Cheyenne affiliation cannot be excluded. The 
human remains are currently in the possession of the Smithsonian 
Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Repatriation Office.
    Representatives of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne 
River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow 
Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South 
Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South 
Dakota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; 
Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; 
Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska; Sisseton-
Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; 
Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & 
South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota have agreed to 
the repatriation of the human remains to the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of 
Oklahoma and Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian 
Reservation, Montana.
    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(2)(B), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be clearly traced between the Native 
American human remains and the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and 
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, 
Montana. Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs also have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(2)(C), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the 
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the 
Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of 
South Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, 
South Dakota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South 
Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South 
Dakota; Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska; 
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South 
Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of 
North & South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Carolyn 
McClellan, National Collections Manager and NAGPRA Coordinator, Bureau 
of Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street NW, MS-2472-MIB, Washington, DC, 
telephone (202) 208-4401, before March 1, 2004. Repatriation of the 
human remains to the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and Northern 
Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for notifying the 
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the 
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the 
Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of 
South Dakota; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, 
South Dakota; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian 
Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, 
South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, 
South Dakota; Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska; 
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South 
Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of 
North & South Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: December 8, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 04-1884 Filed 1-28-04; 8:45 am]
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