[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 30 (Wednesday, February 13, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8359-8360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-2575]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Colorado Museum, 
Boulder, 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 and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the University of Colorado Museum, 
Boulder, CO. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from Meagher County, MT.
    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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by University 
of Colorado Museum professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, 
Wyoming; Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of 
Montana; Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux 
Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Tribe of 
Montana; Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation 
of Montana; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache 
Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Northern Cheyenne 
Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Pawnee 
Nation of Oklahoma; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute 
Reservation, Colorado; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray 
Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah. The Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero 
Reservation, New Mexico; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge 
Reservation, South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian 
Reservation, South Dakota; and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & 
South Dakota were provided with copies of all available documentation.
    In 1905, human remains representing a minimum of five individuals 
were removed from ``in a butte (``Sentinal [sic] Rock''), Meagher 
County, MT,'' by Ralph Hubbard. The human remains were later sent to 
the museum by Mr. Hubbard. In 1993, the human remains were found 
uncatalogued during an inventory and subsequently catalogued (99195-
1, 99195-2, 99195-3, 99195-4, 
99195-5). No known individuals were identified. The two 
associated funerary objects are one tin spoon and one coyote molar.
    Based on a note written by Mr. Hubbard, the human remains are 
Native American. Based on Indian Claims Commission decisions, the human 
remains are reasonably believed to be Blackfeet, Crow, Gros Ventre, or 
Assiniboine. Descendants of the Blackfeet are members of the Blackfeet 
Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana. The Fort Belknap 
Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana confirms 
that the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine ranged through the Meagher County 
area mainly in the form of hunting and war parties. The descendants of 
the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine are members of the Fort Belknap Indian 
Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana. Based on oral 
tradition, the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota, includes Meagher County as a part of their 
traditional territory. The Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota are comprised of Arikara, Hidatsa, and Mandan 
peoples. The Crow people were once a part of the Hidatsa Nation based 
on Crow oral tradition. Therefore, the Hidatsa people of the Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota and 
Crow Tribe of Montana have a relationship of shared group identity.
    Officials of the University of Colorado Museum 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 University of Colorado Museum also 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the two 
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 University 
of Colorado Museum 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 
associated funerary objects and the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet 
Indian Reservation of Montana; Crow Tribe of Montana; Fort Belknap 
Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana; and Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Steve Lekson, Curator of Anthropology, 
University of Colorado Museum, Henderson Building, Campus Box 218, 
Boulder, CO 80309-0218, telephone (303) 492-6671, before March

[[Page 8360]]

14, 2008. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of 
Montana; Crow Tribe of Montana; Fort Belknap Indian Community of the 
Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana; and Three Affiliated Tribes of the 
Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota may proceed after that date if 
no additional claimants come forward.
    University of Colorado Museum is responsible for notifying the 
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, 
Wyoming; Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of 
Montana; Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux 
Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Comanche Nation, 
Oklahoma; Crow Tribe of Montana; Fort Belknap Indian Community of the 
Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New 
Mexico; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian 
Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, 
South Dakota; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the 
Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of 
the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of 
North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray 
Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: January 9, 2008.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-2575 Filed 2-12-08; 8:45 am]
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