[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 62 (Monday, March 31, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 16907]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-6575]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Wisconsin-Stevens 
Point, Stevens Point, WI

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 Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 
Stevens Point, WI. The human remains and associated funerary objects 
were removed from Portage County, WI.
    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 Wisconsin-Stevens Point professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Menominee 
Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
    In the late 1950s, human remains were removed from the Bigelow-
Hamilton site (47-Pr-29), Portage County, WI, by George Dixon. Mr. 
Dixon subsequently donated the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. No known 
individuals were identified. Most of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects were reinterred in 1986 and 1987 at the request of the 
Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe, now called the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. 
In 1994, 1995, and 2001, additional human remains representing a 
minimum of two individuals and associated funerary objects from the 
Bigelow-Hamilton site were discovered in the University of Wisconsin-
Stevens Point collections. The 71 associated funerary objects are 1 
fragment of mink or otter fur, 2 textile fragments, 9 shell fragments, 
6 stone tools, 48 stone flakes, 3 Madison Plain sherds, and 2 cord-
impressed sherds.
    The Bigelow-Hamilton site consists of mounds, several large village 
areas, and a possible storage precinct. Archival research, literature 
review, and artifact analysis indicate sequential occupations of the 
site from 400 to 200 B.C., A.D. 0 to 200, A.D. 200 to 400, A.D. 500 to 
1200, and during the 19th century. The human remains are believed to be 
associated with a Menominee sugar camp at the site that was used 
between A.D. 1839 and 1840. The Bigelow-Hamilton site is located with 
the area ceded by the Menominee to the United States under the Treaty 
of September 3, 1836 (7 Stat. 506). Other historic records indicate 
that the ancestors of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Menominee 
Indian Tribe of Wisconsin occupied the Portage County area during the 
1830s and 1840s. The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Menominee Indian 
Tribe of Wisconsin have agreed that the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin 
will assume repatriation for the human remains and associated funerary 
objects from the area of the Bigelow-Hamilton site.
    Officials of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of two individuals of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the University of Wisconsin-
Stevens Point also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(3)(A), the 71 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 Wisconsin-Stevens Point 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 Ho-Chunk Nation 
of Wisconsin and/or Menominee Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Sharon 
Cloud, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI 54481-
3897, telephone (715) 346-3576, before April 30, 2008. Pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3009 (2), the human remains and associated funerary objects were 
repatriated to the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin in 2003 to complete the 
repatriation that was pending at the time of NAGPRA's enactment.
    The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is responsible for 
notifying the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Menominee Indian Tribe 
of Wisconsin that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 15, 2008.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-6575 Filed 3-28-08; 8:45 am]
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