[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 3, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45655-45656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19004]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Colorado Museum, 
Boulder, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 control of the 
University of Colorado Museum, Boulder, CO. The human remains were 
removed from Converse County, WY.
    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 
University of Colorado Museum professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Arapahoe Tribe of the 
Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the 
Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, 
Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, 
South Dakota; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Crow Tribe of Montana; Crow 
Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; 
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Kiowa Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South 
Dakota; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian 
Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, 
South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, 
South Dakota; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe 
of North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
    In 1948, 1949, 1952, 1956, or 1963, human remains representing a 
minimum of one individual were removed from a cave at Little Box Elder 
Site, in Converse County, WY. The human remains were removed by either 
a museum archeological crew, which excavated the site in 1948 (test), 
1949, 1952, and 1956, or by Dr. Robinson, Paleontology Curator 
Emeritus, who excavated stratigraphically at the site in 1963. The 
property is private and belonged to Orsa D. Ferguson who passed away in 
the 1950s, and then it belonged to his brother-in-law, William Barber. 
The human remains were found in the Paleontology section of the museum 
during re-analysis and transferred to the Anthropology section of the 
museum for NAGPRA compliance. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    The human remains are Native American based on the biological 
assessment and the site context. The cave dates from recent time to 
15,000 years before present. Evidence of human occupation was present 
in the upper levels. The earliest levels contained a ``nest'' of three 
spherical stones of material foreign to the cave deposits, suggesting 
the possibility of human occupation at that time. During preliminary 
re-study of material from the cave, two tools were identified. Both 
were made from elements of extinct horse (Equus conversidens). The site 
also yielded several tools made from mountain goat humeri and 
metapodial. Although not extinct, mountain goat is no longer present in 
the region of Little Box Elder.
    Officials of the University of Colorado Museum have determined 
that,

[[Page 45656]]

pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American 
ancestry. Lastly, officials of the University of Colorado Museum 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 
October 2009, the University of Colorado Museum requested that the 
Review Committee recommend disposition of the culturally unidentifiable 
human remains to the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, 
Wyoming, based on Arapaho aboriginal land claims and supported by oral 
tradition, as well as the support of the other Indian tribes consulted. 
The Comanche Nation, Oklahoma, signed the disposition agreement in 
support of the disposition to the Arapahoe Tribe. Furthermore, none of 
the Indian tribes consulted objected to the determination of 
``culturally unidentifiable'' status by the University of Colorado 
Museum and the disposition to the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming.
    The Review Committee considered the proposal at its October 30-31, 
2009, meeting and recommended disposition of the human remains to the 
Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming. The Secretary of 
Interior agreed with the Review Committee's recommendation. An April 
19, 2010, letter from the Designated Federal Officer, writing on behalf 
of the Secretary of the Interior, transmitted the authorization for the 
University of Colorado Museum to effect disposition of the physical 
remains of the culturally unidentifiable individual to the Arapahoe 
Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, 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 Steve 
Lekson, Curator of Anthropology, University of Colorado Museum, in care 
of Jan Bernstein, NAGPRA Consultant, Bernstein & Associates, 1041 
Lafayette St., Denver, CO 80218, telephone (303) 894-0648, before 
September 2, 2010. Disposition of the human remains to the Arapahoe 
Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The University of Colorado Museum is responsible for notifying the 
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, 
Wyoming; Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian 
Reservation, Montana; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma; Cheyenne 
River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; 
Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Crow Tribe of Montana; Crow Creek Sioux 
Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee 
Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Lower 
Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South Dakota; 
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, 
Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South 
Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South 
Dakota; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of 
North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota; and Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 26, 2010
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-19004 Filed 8-2-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S