[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 59 (Friday, March 26, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15899-15900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-6653]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Carnegie Museum of Natural 
History, Pittsburgh, PA

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 and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 
Pittsburgh, PA. These human remains and associated funerary objects 
were removed from burial grounds on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 
MT.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25

[[Page 15900]]

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 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 Carnegie 
Museum of Natural History professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of the Fort Peck 
Indian Reservation, Montana.
    In 1898, human remains representing a minimum of five individuals 
were removed from a burial ground at Wolf Point on the Fort Peck Indian 
Reservation. The original collector is not know, but may have been Dr. 
Brewer Mattocks. In response to an inquiry from Dr. Mattocks in 1913, 
the U.S. Department of the Interior determined that Wolf Point was 
located on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Dr. Mattocks donated the 
human remains to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1913 
(Accession no. 4839) and 1914 (Accession no. 5214). No known 
individuals were identified. The six associated funerary objects are 
five brass and one gold cameo finger rings (Accession no. 5214) which 
Dr. Mattocks also donated to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 
1914.
    Although the lands from which the human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed were under the jurisdiction of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Carnegie 
Museum of Natural History has possession and control of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects because their removal from 
tribal land predates permit requirements established by the Antiquities 
Act of 1906.
    The brass and gold cameo finger rings date the five burials to the 
Historic period (mid- to late 19th century). The burial ground at Wolf 
Point was commonly used by Assiniboine and Sioux residents of the Fort 
Peck Indian Reservation.
    Officials of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described 
above represent the physical remains of five individuals of Native 
American Ancestry. Officials of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 
also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the six 
objects described above are 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 Carnegie 
Museum of Natural History 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 
Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 
Montana.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Dr. David R. Watters, Carnegie Museum of Natural 
History, 5800 Baum Boulevard, Pittsburgh, PA 15206-3706, telephone 
(412) 665-2605, before April 26, 2004. Repatriation of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the Assiniboine and Sioux 
tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana may proceed after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Carnegie Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying 
the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 
Montana that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 27, 2004.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 04-6653 Filed 3-25-04; 8:45 am]
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