[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 104 (Thursday, May 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 30973]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-11988]


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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.

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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 
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Effigy Mounds 
National Monument, Harpers Ferry, IA. The human remains were removed 
from Allamakee and Clayton Counties, IA.
    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 
superintendent, Effigy Mounds National Monument.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Effigy 
Mounds National Monument professional staff and Iowa Office of the 
State Archeologist professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of 
Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Lower Sioux Indian 
Community in the State of Minnesota; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, 
Oklahoma; Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; 
Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, 
Oklahoma; Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa; Shakopee 
Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota; Upper Sioux Community, 
Minnesota; and Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of two 
individuals were removed from Waukon Junction Rockshelter in Allamakee 
County, IA, by unknown persons. No further information regarding the 
site is known. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of three 
individuals were removed from Marquette Rockshelter in Clayton County, 
IA, by unknown persons. No further information regarding the site is 
known. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Officials of Effigy Mounds National Monument 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 Effigy Mounds National Monument also have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), a relationship of 
shared group identity cannot reasonably be traced between the Native 
American human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
    The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review 
Committee (Review Committee) is responsible for recommending specific 
actions for disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains. In 
September 2007, Effigy Mounds National Monument requested that the 
Review Committee recommend disposition of six culturally unidentifiable 
human remains to the Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and 
Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; and Sac & Fox Tribe of the 
Mississippi in Iowa as the aboriginal occupants of the lands 
encompassing the present-day Effigy Mounds National Monument. One 
individual of the six referenced in the request has since been 
determined to be part of a repatriated bundle burial. Its inclusion in 
the request to the Review Committee was an error and it is not included 
in this notice.
    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 the national monument 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 
October 15-16, 2007 meeting and recommended disposition of the human 
remains to the Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac 
& Fox Nation, Oklahoma; and Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.
    A November 28, 2007, letter on behalf of the Secretary of the 
Interior from the Designated Federal Official, transmitted the 
authorization for the park to effect disposition of the physical 
remains of the culturally unidentifiable individuals to the three 
Indian tribes listed above contingent on the publication of a Notice of 
Inventory Completion in the Federal Register. This notice fulfills that 
requirement.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Phyllis 
Ewing, superintendent, Effigy Mounds National Monument, 151 HWY 76, 
Harpers Ferry, IA 52146, telephone (563) 873-3491, before June 30, 
2008. Disposition of the human remains to the Sac & Fox Nation of 
Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; and Sac & 
Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    Effigy Mounds National Monument is responsible for notifying the 
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of 
Minnesota; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Prairie Island 
Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Sac & Fox Nation of 
Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox 
Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa; Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community 
of Minnesota; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; and Winnebago Tribe of 
Nebraska that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 18, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-11988 Filed 5-28-08; 8:45 am]
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