[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 189 (Friday, September 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59647-59648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23921]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11201; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: California Department of Parks 
and Recreation, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The California Department of Parks and Recreation has 
completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes. 
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects may contact the California Department of Parks and Recreation. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Indian tribes 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 California Department of Parks and 
Recreation at the address below by October 29, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Patrick C. Riordan, NAGPRA Coordinator, California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street Room 902, 
Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 375-5916.

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 possession of the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation. The human remains are believed to 
have been removed from the massacre site at Wounded Knee in Shannon 
County, SD.
    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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by the California Department of Parks and Recreation 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Cheyenne 
River Sioux Tribes of the Cheyenne River Reservation of South Dakota; 
Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota; and 
the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota (hereafter 
referred to as ``The Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    In December of 1890, human remains representing, at minimum, two 
individuals were removed by an unknown person from the massacre site at 
Wounded Knee in Shannon County, SD. The human remains consist of two 
hanks of hair. At an unknown date, the remains were acquired by the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation, and these remains were 
included in a 1968 inventory for the Estudillo House at Old Town San 
Diego State Historic Park, along with other objects from Oxnard, CA. In 
1988, the collection was transferred to the California Department of 
Parks and Recreation Statewide Museum Resources Center in West 
Sacramento and was housed with other human remains in the Department's 
NAGPRA Collections storage area. No known individuals were identified. 
The two associated funerary objects are bandanas wrapped around each of 
the two clusters of hair.
    The Wounded Knee Massacre was the last major armed conflict between 
Indians and whites in the United States. The confrontation occurred on 
December 29, 1890, after the U.S. Army moved a group of approximately 
340 Indians under the leadership of Sitanka (Big Foot) from their camp 
on the Cheyenne River at the Cheyenne River Agency to Wounded Knee 
Creek, approximately 20 miles from Pine Ridge Agency. Besides members 
of Sitanka's band from the Cheyenne River Agency,

[[Page 59648]]

members of Sitting Bull's band from the Standing Rock Agency, and 
possibly a few Oglala from the Pine Ridge Agency, were present. 
Fighting began when the soldiers attempted to disarm the surrounded 
Sioux. Reportedly, one of the Sioux fired a shot and the soldiers began 
firing, indiscriminately killing women and children along with Sioux 
warriors. Estimates of the number of Sioux killed were as high as 300. 
About 39 U.S. soldiers were killed.
    The human remains and associated funerary objects date from the 
Wounded Knee Massacre, on December 29, 1890. The geographical location 
is consistent with the occupation of the site by the historical bands 
of Sioux Indians. The associated funerary objects are consistent with 
the period when this region would have been occupied by the historical 
bands of Sioux Indians. Based upon the extant information about the 
acquisition of this collection by the California Department of Parks 
and Recreation and the historical events leading to the massacre at 
Wounded Knee, the California Department of Parks and Recreation 
Committee on Repatriation determined that there is a relationship of 
shared group identity which can be reasonably traced between these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and The 
Tribes.

Determinations Made by the California Department of Parks and 
Recreation

    Officials of the California Department of Parks and Recreation have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the two funerary 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 Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Patrick C. Riordan, NAGPRA Coordinator, 
California Department of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street, Room 
902, Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 375-5916 before October 29, 
2012. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
to The Tribes may proceed after that date if no additional claimants 
come forward.
    The California Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible 
for notifying The Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 31, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-23921 Filed 9-27-12; 8:45 am]
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