[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 181 (Monday, September 19, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58038-58039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23969]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

 National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum 
of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of 
Natural History have completed an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate 
Indian Tribes, and have determined that there is a cultural affiliation 
between the human remains and associated funerary objects and a 
present-day Indian Tribe. Representatives of any Indian Tribe that 
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains and 
associated funerary objects may contact the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum 
of Natural History. Repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Indian Tribe stated below may occur if no 
additional claimants come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian Tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History 
at the address below by October 19, 2011.

ADDRESSES: The Director, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 
2401 Chautauqua, Norman, OK 73072, telephone (405) 325-8978.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 control of the U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the 
possession of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from Bryan County, OK.
    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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Sam 
Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History professional staff in 
consultation with the Oklahoma State Archeologist and representatives 
of the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma also 
examined the cultural items, but did not express an interest in being a 
part of the NAGPRA consultation.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1941, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from an unidentified context near a former refuse area at 
Fort Washita (Colbert Site, 34Br-6), in Bryan County, OK, by Works 
Progress Administration employees. Fort Washita was abandoned by the 
War Department after the Civil War. Five years later the land was 
turned over to the Chickasaw Nation. The property was subsequently

[[Page 58039]]

allotted to Abbie Davis Colbert and her son, Douglas, in 1906 and 1908. 
The Colbert family retained the property until they sold it to the 
State of Oklahoma in 1962. The remains and funerary objects were 
transferred to the the Stovall Museum of Science and History, now 
called the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. No known 
individual was identified. The 1,532 associated funerary objects are 33 
points, 2 drills, 13 biface fragments, 4 bifaces, 119 flakes, 17 blocky 
debris, 1 hammerstone, 2 manos, 1 groundstone fragment, 1 pottery bowl 
fragment, 7 undecorated pottery rim sherds, 51 undecorated pottery body 
sherds, 2 pottery body sherds, 1 pottery base sherd, 2 pieces of daub, 
3 pieces of baked clay, 8 buttons, 2 toothbrush fragments, 1 knife 
handle, 1 knife handle fragment, 1 worked animal bone fragment, 397 
animal bone fragments, 11 burned animal bone fragments, 2 boar tusks, 
35 animal teeth fragments, 2 mussel shell fragments, 30 ceramic rim 
sherds, 3 ceramic handle fragments, 3 ceramic handle sherds, 96 ceramic 
body sherds, 24 ceramic base sherds, 1 ceramic base fragment, 398 
pipestem fragments, 6 burned pipestem fragments, 80 pipe bowl 
fragments, 9 burned pipe bowl fragments, 2 pipe fragments, 4 clay 
marbles, 16 beads, 11 glass beads, 1 glass ornament, 1 glass stopper, 2 
glass stopper fragments, 43 glass bottle fragments, 3 melted glass 
fragments, 1 molded glass bottle fragment, 3 iron fork fragments, 1 
iron knife fragment with bone handle, 1 iron handle, 1 iron handle 
fragment, 1 iron bowl fragment, 2 iron keys, 1 iron hinge, 1 iron gun 
hammer, 2 iron gun pieces, 1 fish hook, 12 nails, 1 iron ring, 1 coffee 
mill, 1 possible iron file, 1 large iron tack, 4 iron rods, 3 
unidentified iron fragments, 1 metal tube, 1 scissors fragment, 1 
finial fragment, 1 brass gun ring, 2 brass hinges, 2 water taps, 1 
brass buckle, 2 percussion caps, 1 brass fragment, 2 possible copper 
fragments, 2 lead musket balls, 1 lead bullet, 1 lead slug, 2 lead 
chunks, 1 lead rod, 1 spoon handle, 2 spoon fragments, 2 coins, 1 metal 
ornament, 1 piece of plaster or concrete, 2 fossils, 9 rocks, 1 rock 
fragment, 1 sandstone fragment, and 1 unidentified stone.
    The skeletal remains consist of fragmentary long bones and cannot 
be used to conclusively establish cultural affiliation. The physical 
relationship of the remains to a particular population group (e.g., 
Native American, European, or African) could not be established. 
However, affiliation of the remains can be established with some degree 
of confidence through examination of the archeological and historic 
context of the remains. This site is adjacent to (or more likely a part 
of) the use area of historic Fort Washita, which was established by the 
U.S. Government to protect southeastern removal Tribes (e.g., Chickasaw 
and Choctaw) from depredations by whites (principally from Texas) and 
Plains Indian groups (such as the Apache and Comanche). Many Chickasaw 
congregated around Fort Washita for protection as well as for the 
economic goods available there. Thus, the resident community of Fort 
Washita consisted of white soldiers; individuals related to post 
personnel; traders who operated outside the post; Native Americans 
(mostly Chickasaws) who settled around the post; and blacks who were 
slaves of the more affluent Chickasaws. Although the records do not 
specifically address the presence of human remains from the excavation, 
the long bones were found in physical association with the other 
materials from 34Br6. The materials recovered from 34Br6 are those that 
would be typically associated with refuse disposal, and this refuse 
area can be identified as principally Native American in origin 
(probably Chickasaw). This is due to an absence of military hardware 
and the presence of aboriginal historic ceramics and glass beads 
although European goods are also abundant within the midden. These 
facts indicate that the individual from the burial is most likely a 
person of Chickasaw cultural affiliation.

Determinations Made by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History

    Officials of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
above represent the physical remains of one individual of Native 
American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 1,532 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.
     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 
Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian Tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact the Director, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of 
Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua, Norman, OK 73072, telephone (405) 
325-8978, before October 19, 2011. Repatriation of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects to the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma, may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is responsible for 
notifying the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma, that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: September 14, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-23969 Filed 9-16-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P