[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 243 (Monday, December 20, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76005-76006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27786]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry, 
IA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office determined that the 
physical remains of 12 individuals of Native American ancestry and 
three associated funerary objects in Effigy Mounds National Monument's 
collections, described below in Information about cultural items, are 
culturally unidentifiable. The Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Review Committee (Review Committee) recommended that 
Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry, IA, repatriate the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Sac and Fox Nation 
of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma; and 
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
    The National Park Service publishes this notice on behalf of Effigy 
Mounds National Monument as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 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 NAGPRA Program is not 
responsible for the determinations within this notice.
    Information about NAGPRA is available online at www.cr.nps.gov/nagpra.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items to the Indian tribes listed 
above in SUMMARY may proceed after January 19, 2005, if no additional 
claimants come forward. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that 
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural items 
should contact Effigy Mounds National Monument before January 19, 2005.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

    Authority: 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.; 43 CFR 10; and 16 U.S.C. 18f-
2.
    Contact. Contact Phyllis Ewing, Superintendent, Effigy Mounds 
National Monument, 151 Highway 76, Harpers Ferry, IA 52146, telephone 
(563) 873[macr]3491, e[macr]mail [email protected], regarding 
determinations stated in this notice or to claim the cultural items 
described in this notice.
    Consultation. Effigy Mounds National Monument identified the 
cultural items and assessed the cultural affiliation of the cultural 
items in consultation with representatives of the Ho[macr]Chunk Nation 
of Wisconsin (formerly the Wisconsin

[[Page 76006]]

Winnebago Tribe); Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; 
Otoe[macr]Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Prairie Island Indian 
Community in the State of Minnesota; Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in 
Kansas and Nebraska; Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac and Fox Tribe of 
the Mississippi in Iowa; Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of 
Minnesota; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; and Winnebago Tribe of 
Nebraska.
    Information about cultural items. In 1952, National Park Service 
archeologist Paul L. Beaubien removed human remains representing a 
minimum of 12 individuals from Mound 57 at Effigy Mounds National 
Monument, Allamakee County, IA, during an authorized National Park 
Service excavation. At the time of removal, the site was on Federal 
land.
    The cultural material recovered from Mound 57 was identified as 
Middle Woodland (1700[macr]2200 B.P.). Human remains from Mound 57 were 
examined in 1952[macr]53 by Alton K. Fisher, then Professor of 
Dentistry at the University of Iowa. Archival records at Effigy Mounds 
National Monument indicate Dr. Fisher took the remains to Iowa City for 
analysis, and in 1953 requested that Mr. Beaubien pick up the remains. 
No further information is available about the disposition of the human 
skeletal material following Dr. Fisher's request. Recently, the human 
remains were returned to Effigy Mounds National Monument. A detailed 
assessment of the human remains was made by the Burials Program, Iowa 
Office of the State Archaeologist on behalf of the National Park 
Service during the summer of 2003. The human remains represent 12 
individuals distinguished primarily by dentition and fragmented or 
incomplete cranial and postcranial remains. Seven adults and five 
sub[macr]adults are represented. No known individuals were identified. 
The three associated funerary objects are one copper breast plate, one 
sandstone drill pivot, and one piece of obsidian.
    Officials of the National Park Service determined that a 
relationship of shared group identity could not reasonably be traced 
between the human remains and associated funerary objects and any 
present[macr]day Indian tribe. Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 
three 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.
    According to the Review Committee's charter, the Review Committee 
is responsible for recommending specific actions for disposition of 
culturally unidentifiable human remains. In July 2004, Effigy Mounds 
National Monument requested that the Review Committee recommend 
repatriation of the 12 culturally unidentifiable human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the tribes listed above in SUMMARY as 
the aboriginal occupants of the lands encompassing the present[macr]day 
Effigy Mounds National Monument. Effigy Mounds National Monument is 
located within the area covered by the Treaty of September 21, 1832 
between the Sauk and Fox tribes and the United States (Stat. L. VII 
374), and is located within the area covered by the November 23, 1973 
final award of the Indian Claims Commission to the Sauk and Fox tribes 
(4 Ind. Cl. Comm. 367 [1957]). The Review Committee considered the 
proposal at its September 2004 meeting in Washington, DC, and 
recommended repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the three tribes. The National Park Service intends to 
convey the three associated funerary objects to the Sac and Fox Nation 
of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma; and 
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa pursuant to 16 U.S.C. 
18f[macr]2.
    A September 21, 2004, letter from the Designated Federal Officer to 
the superintendent of Effigy Mounds National Monument transmitted the 
Review Committee's recommendation that the park repatriate the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the tribes listed above in 
Summary contingent on the publication of a Notice of Inventory 
Completion in the Federal Register. This notice fulfills that 
requirement.
    Determinations. Under 25 U.S.C. 3003, Effigy Mounds National 
Monument officials determined that the human remains represent the 
physical remains of 12 individuals of Native American ancestry; and 
National Park Service officials determined that the human remains and 
associated funerary objects are culturally unidentifiable.
    Notification. Effigy Mounds National Monument is responsible for 
sending copies of this notice to the consulted Indian tribes listed 
above in Consultation.

    Dated: December 2, 2004
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 04-27786 Filed 12-17-04]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S