[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 18, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74870-74871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-30438]



[[Page 74870]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11728; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Defense, Army, 
Fort Sill Museum, Fort Sill, OK, and Museum of the Great Plains, 
Lawton, OK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Defense, Army, Fort Sill Museum, and 
the Museum of the Great Plains have completed an inventory of human 
remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and have 
determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the remains 
and any present-day Indian tribe. Representative of any Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains 
may contact the Fort Sill Museum. Disposition of the human remains to 
the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional requestors 
come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Fort 
Sill Museum at the address below by January 17, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Scott A. Neel, Ph.D., Director, Fort Sill National Historic 
Landmark and Museum, U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence, Fort Sill, 
OK 73503, telephone (580) 442-6570.

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 under 
the control of the Fort Sill Museum and in the possession of the Museum 
of the Great Plains. The human remains were removed from Fort Sill, 
Comanche 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) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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 was made by the Fort 
Sill Museum and the Museum of the Great Plains professional staffs in 
consultation with representatives the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Caddo 
Nation of Oklahoma; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously 
listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma); Chickasaw Nation; 
Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Fort Sill Apache 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; and the Wichita and 
Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.

History and Description of the Remains

    In March 1977, human remains representing, at minimum, two 
individuals were removed from site 34CM323 in Comanche County, OK. 
Staff of the Museum of the Great Plains found the human remains during 
a reconnaissance survey on Federal property in Fort Sill. The burials 
were exposed by natural elements on the bank of Crater Creek, were 
excavated by staff of the Museum of the Great Plains, and were sent to 
the Osteology Laboratory of the Institute of Applied Sciences at North 
Texas State University. The burials remained at North Texas State 
University until January 27, 2012, when, at the request of the Fort 
Sill Museum, they were returned to the Museum of the Great Plains. The 
Museum of the Great Plains physically inventoried the remains for 
NAGPRA purposes and stabilized the remains according to 36 CFR 79 
standards. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Barbara H. Butler, Ph.D., of North Texas State University, analyzed 
the remains in 1977, and concluded that the remains from this site 
represented two individuals. Human remains from Burial 2, with only a 
few small occipital pieces, represented one adult. Human remains from 
Burial 1 consisted of fragmentary remains of a nine-year-old child, 
based upon dental analysis. The dental remains from Burial 1 were 
moderately shovel-shaped, and Butler concluded the remains were 
probably Native American. The human remains were shallowly buried in 
alluvium deposits, and no pit profile could be detected during 
excavations. The body positions suggested that the burials were placed 
in a pit excavated into the alluvium deposits, and are therefore 
younger than those deposits. A 1978 geologic inspection of the site 
estimates the age of the alluvium deposits as ``late Holocene to early 
historic.'' The lack of soil development, as well as the preservation 
of bones in acidic soils, suggest but do not confirm a late prehistoric 
to historic age for the burials.
    Prehistorically and historically, Native Americans have inhabited 
the area near Fort Sill in southwest Oklahoma, based on evidence of 
archaeology, geology, and historical accounts. The people of the 
Wichita, Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes are well 
documented in the area, and their presence was the reason Fort Sill was 
established.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of Defense, Army, Fort Sill 
Museum and the Museum of the Great Plains

    Officials of the Fort Sill Museum and the Museum of the Great 
Plains have determined that:
     Based on physical characteristics of the dental analysis, 
the human remains are Native American.
     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(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
     Multiple lines of evidence, including treaties, Acts of 
Congress, and Executive Orders, indicate that the Apache Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as 
the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma); Chickasaw Nation; Comanche 
Nation, Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; and the Wichita and 
Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma, are 
aboriginal to the area from which the human remains were removed.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains may be to the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Cheyenne and 
Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho 
Tribes of Oklahoma); Chickasaw Nation; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Kiowa 
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes 
(Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains or any other Indian tribe 
that believes it satisfies the criteria in 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1) should 
contact Scott A. Neel, Ph.D., Director, Fort Sill National Historic 
Landmark and Museum, U.S. Army Fires Center of Excellence, Fort Sill, 
OK 73503, telephone (580) 442-

[[Page 74871]]

6570. Disposition of the human remains to the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as the 
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma); Chickasaw Nation; Comanche 
Nation, Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; and the Wichita and 
Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma, may 
proceed after that date if no additional requestors come forward.
    The Fort Sill Museum is responsible for notifying the Apache Tribe 
of Oklahoma; Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, 
Oklahoma (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of 
Oklahoma); Chickasaw Nation; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware 
Nation, Oklahoma; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian 
Tribe of Oklahoma; and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, 
Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma, that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: November 13, 2012.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-30438 Filed 12-17-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P