[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 106 (Monday, June 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30826-30827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-10719]


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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 an unknown site in Minnesota.
    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 Native 
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Denver 
Museum of Nature & Science professional staff in consultation with

[[Page 30827]]

representatives of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck 
Indian Reservation, Montana; Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake) of the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; Crow Tribe of Montana; Flandreau 
Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Kiowa 
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribe, Minnesota; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of 
Minnesota; Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin; Mille Lacs Band of the 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho; Northern 
Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; 
Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Ottawa 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Prairie Island Indian 
Community in the State of Minnesota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud 
Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in 
Kansas and Nebraska; Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac and Fox Tribe of 
the Mississippi in Iowa; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Sisseton-
Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Standing 
Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; Upper Sioux Community, 
Minnesota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from an unspecified site in Minnesota. In 1940, 
C.H. Hannington donated the human remains to the Denver Museum of 
Nature & Science, calling them ``Sioux.'' No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    The human remains are the complete cranium and mandible of an adult 
female. The skull was identified as Native American by physical 
anthropologists at the museum. Copper staining around the mastoids 
suggests that copper ear spools were worn and provides further evidence 
of Native American identification. Native copper was used 
prehistorically and copper earrings were also known trade items of 
Indian people of Minnesota during the historic period.
    Written and scholarly accounts of the presence of the Sioux in 
Minnesota, and information from consultation, indicates that several 
Sioux groups have occupied large areas of Minnesota for the past 
several hundred years. Based on donor information, provenience, and 
tribal consultation the Native American human remains are reasonably 
believed to be Sioux. The Sioux groups that occupied Minnesota are 
represented by the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; 
Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Santee Sioux 
Nation, Nebraska; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse 
Reservation, South Dakota; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; and 
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
    Officials of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science 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 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 Flandreau Santee 
Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Prairie Island Indian Community in the 
State of Minnesota; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Sisseton-Wahpeton 
Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Upper Sioux 
Community, Minnesota; 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 Dr. 
Stephen Nash, NAGPRA Officer, Department of Anthropology, Denver Museum 
of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO 80205, telephone 
(303) 370-6056, before July 5, 2007. Repatriation of the human remains 
to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Prairie Island 
Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Santee Sioux Nation, 
Nebraska; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, 
South Dakota; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe 
of South Dakota may proceed after that date if no additional claimants 
come forward.
    The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is responsible for notifying 
the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 
Montana; Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake) of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, 
Minnesota; Crow Tribe of Montana; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South 
Dakota; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Leech 
Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; Lower Sioux 
Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Menominee Indian Tribe of 
Wisconsin; Mille Lacs Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota; 
Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine 
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; Pawnee 
Nation of Oklahoma; Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of 
Minnesota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South 
Dakota; Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac and 
Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa; 
Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake 
Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North 
& South Dakota; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; and Yankton Sioux 
Tribe of South Dakota that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 9, 2007
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-10719 Filed 6-1-07; 8:45 am]
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