[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 196 (Tuesday, October 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 52503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-24557]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, 
Bemidji, MN

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 Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, 
Bemidji, MN. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from Clearwater County, MN.
    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 and associated funerary 
objects was made by the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council professional 
staff in consultation with representatives of the White Earth Band of 
Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota.
    In 1952, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from site 21-CE-5, Ponsford Landing Site, Clearwater 
County, MN, by Mr. Robert H. Littlewolf's father. In 1959, Mr. 
Littlewolf, a White Earth band member, gave the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the University of Minnesota. The 
University of Minnesota transferred control of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council per 
a transfer agreement dated June 16, 1989. No known individual was 
identified. The 12 associated funerary objects are 1 ceramic sherd, 1 
bone needle, 1 bone shaft straightener, 1 bone punch, 1 bone harpoon, 
and 7 pieces of worked bone.
    Based on material culture, the burial at site 21-CE-5 has been 
identified as a post-contact burial related to the local Ojibwe 
population, who were later relocated to the White Earth Reservation 
after 1867. The geographic location is consistent with the historically 
documented territory of the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribe, Minnesota.
    Officials of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council 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 Minnesota Indian Affairs Council 
have also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 12 
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 Minnesota 
Indian Affairs Council 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 White Earth Band of Minnesota 
Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact James L. (Jim) Jones Jr., Cultural Resource 
Director, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, 1819 Bemidji Ave., Bemidji, 
MN 56601, telephone (218) 755-3825, before November 12, 2009. 
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to 
the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council is responsible for notifying 
the White Earth Band of Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: September 8, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-24557 Filed 10-9-09; 8:45 am]
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