[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55457-55458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20649]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, Forest Service, Ottawa National Forest, Ironwood, MI

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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate a cultural item in the possession of the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, Forest Service, Ottawa National Forest that meets the 
definition of ``object of cultural patrimony'' 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 in 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 in this notice.
    The one cultural item is a white pine dugout canoe.
    The canoe was discovered in 1953 by a private landowner at the 
bottom of Thousand Island Lake, Watersmeet, MI. The Ottawa National 
Forest acquired the canoe in the late 1960s from Jay Shifra, a resident 
of Watersmeet, and curated the canoe at the Ottawa National Forest 
Visitors Center since the early 1970s. The canoe measures 32 1/2 feet 
in length and 31 inches wide at the center with a height of 21 inches 
and has a carrying capacity of approximately 15-20 people. A small tree 
was growing out of the canoe when it was discovered, which would 
suggest that the canoe had been submerged in the lake for a 
considerable period of time. The canoe probably dates to the Late 
Woodland/Early Contact period (circa A.D. 1500-1800).
    Thousand Island Lake lies within the traditional territory of the 
Ojibwe

[[Page 55458]]

people of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, 
Michigan. During consultation with tribal communities, evidence was 
presented demonstrating that the cultural item is considered to have 
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Lac 
Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Michigan.
    In March 2004, the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa 
Indians, Michigan submitted a request to the Ottawa National Forest for 
repatriation of the canoe.
    Officials of the Ottawa National Forest have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), the cultural item has ongoing 
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native 
American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an 
individual. Officials of the Ottawa National Forest 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 object of cultural patrimony and the Lac Vieux Desert Band 
of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Michigan.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the object of cultural patrimony should 
contact Loreen J. Lomax, Heritage Resources Program Manager, Ottawa 
National Forest Supervisor's Office, E6248 US-2, Ironwood, MI 49938, 
telephone (906) 932-1330, extension 313, before October 14, 2004. 
Repatriation of the object of cultural patrimony to the Lac Vieux 
Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Michigan may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Ottawa National Forest is responsible for notifying the Bay 
Mills Indian Community, Michigan; Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, 
Michigan; Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the 
Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin; and Lac Vieux Desert Band of 
Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Michigan that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: July 22, 2004.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 04-20649 Filed 9-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S