[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 58 (Thursday, March 25, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15368-15369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6654]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Denver Museum of Nature & 
Science, Denver, CO

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 possession of the 
Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, CO. The human remains were 
removed from the Sand Creek Massacre site, Kiowa County, CO.
    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 the Denver 
Museum of Nature & Science professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Arapahoe Tribe of

[[Page 15369]]

the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of 
Oklahoma; and Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian 
Reservation, Montana.
    According to museum records, in 1864, human remains representing 
one individual were removed from the site of the Sand Creek Massacre 
along Big Sandy Creek, about 50 miles north of the current city of 
Lamar, Kiowa County, CO, by William B. Jacobs. The human remains are a 
scalp. At an unknown date, the human remains became part of the George 
A. Cuneo collection. No information regarding the transfer from Mr. 
Jacobs to Mr. Cuneo is known. The Cuneo collection consisted primarily 
of historic Southwestern and Plains Indian objects that Mr. Cuneo 
collected during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mr. Cuneo's 
collection was on loan to the Denver Art Museum from 1937 to 1956. Mr. 
Cuneo died in 1939 and the collection remained at the Denver Art Museum 
under the control of his estate. Mr. Cuneo's estate sold part of the 
collection, including this scalp, to Mr. Eric Kohlberg of Kohlberg's 
Antiques and Indian Arts in Denver, CO in 1956. Later in 1956, Mary W. 
A. Crane and Francis V. Crane purchased the human remains from Mr. 
Kohlberg. The Cranes donated the human remains to the museum in 1972, 
which accessioned the human remains into the collection the same year. 
Accompanying the human remains was a card written in the hand of George 
A. Cuneo stating that William B. Jacobs took the scalp from an Arapaho 
chief at the Sand Creek Massacre, November 29, 1864. The Arapaho 
individual's name is not documented. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Based on museum records and historical accounts of the Sand Creek 
Massacre, the human remains are determined to be Native American. A 
William B. Jacobs is listed among the members of Colonel John 
Chivington's 3rd Regiment of Colorado Volunteer Cavalry, which attacked 
the sleeping Cheyenne and a few Arapaho at the tipi camp at Sand Creek. 
The event is documented in several historical sources, and eyewitness 
accounts verify that cavalry members took Indian scalps. Consultations 
held with the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; 
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; and Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the 
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana corroborate that tribal 
histories place Cheyenne and some Arapaho individuals at the site and 
as victims of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864. Based on verified 
original collection history, documented tribal identification in early 
records with the human remains, and written and scholarly accounts of 
scalping and Arapaho presence at the Sand Creek Massacre, the human 
remains are most likely to be culturally affiliated with the Arapahoe 
Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming and the Cheyenne-Arapaho 
Tribes of Oklahoma.
    Officials of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains listed above 
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science also 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 Native American human remains and the Arapahoe Tribe of the 
Wind River Reservation, Wyoming and the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of 
Oklahoma.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Dr. Ella 
Maria Ray, NAGPRA Officer, Department of Anthropology, Denver Museum of 
Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205, telephone 
(303) 370-6056, before April 26, 2004. Repatriation of the human 
remains to the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming 
and the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma may proceed after that date 
if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Denver Museum of Nature &Science is responsible for notifying 
the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne-
Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; and Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: January 22, 2004.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 04-6654 Filed 3-24-04; 8:45 am]
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