[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 247 (Friday, December 23, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80388-80389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33013]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of 
the Interior, National Park Service, Little Bighorn Battlefield 
National Monument, Crow Agency, MT

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, in consultation 
with the appropriate Indian tribes, has determined that the cultural 
items meet the definition of sacred objects and repatriation to the 
lineal descendant stated below may occur if no additional claimants 
come forward. Any other individuals who believe they are lineal 
descendants of the individual who owned these sacred objects and who 
wish to claim the items should contact Little Bighorn Battlefield 
National Monument.

[[Page 80389]]


DATES: Any other individuals who believe they are lineal descendants of 
the individual who owned these sacred objects and who wish to claim the 
items should contact Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument at 
the address below by January 23, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Kate Hammond, Superintendent, Little Bighorn Battlefield 
National Monument, P.O. Box 39, Crow Agency, MT 59022, telephone (406) 
638-3201.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items in the 
possession of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park 
Service, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, MT, 
that meet the definition of sacred objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

History and description of the cultural items

    The two cultural items are a rattle made of rawhide with attached 
horse hair tail, eagle feather, and buffalo wool; and a grass seed bag 
made from a flour sack. The two items belonged to Isaac Grasshopper, 
who resided on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. In 1922, Dr. Thomas 
B. Marquis, a physician on the Tongue River Reservation (Northern 
Cheyenne), traded Mr. Grasshopper his old coon skin coat for the rattle 
and the seed bag. In 1942, the two objects were donated to Custer 
Battlefield National Cemetery, now known as Little Bighorn Battlefield 
National Monument, by Dr. Marquis' daughters, Mrs. Millie Ellen Marquis 
Hastings and Mrs. Anna Rose Octavia Marquis Heil.
    The two cultural items described above have been claimed by Steve 
Small, Isaac Grasshopper's great-great-grandson. The rattle and seed 
bag are needed by Mr. Small and his sons to continue traditional 
ceremonies. The Northern Cheyenne Cultural Commission and Tribal 
Historic Preservation Office corroborated Little Bighorn Battlefield 
National Monument's determination that Steve Small is the most 
appropriate recipient under the Northern Cheyenne traditional kinship 
system and common law system of descendance.

Determinations made by Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

    Officials of Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(C), the two cultural items 
described above are specific ceremonial objects needed by traditional 
Native American religious leaders for the practice of traditional 
Native American religions by their present-day adherents.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3005(a)(5)(A), Mr. Small is the 
direct lineal descendant of the individual who owned these sacred 
objects.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Any other individuals who believe they are lineal descendants of 
the individual who owned these sacred objects and who wish to claim the 
items should contact Kate Hammond, Superintendent, Little Bighorn 
Battlefield National Monument, P.O. Box 39, Crow Agency, MT 59022, 
telephone (406) 638-3201, before January 23, 2012. Repatriation of the 
sacred objects to Mr. Steve Small may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is responsible for 
notifying Mr. Steve Small; the Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming; Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck 
Indian Reservation, Montana; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma 
(formerly the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma); Cheyenne River 
Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek 
Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Tribe of 
Montana; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; 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; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse 
Reservation, South Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing 
Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of 
the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; and the Yankton Sioux 
Tribe of South Dakota that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 20, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-33013 Filed 12-22-11; 8:45 am]
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