[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13672-13673]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05188]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-14182; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Institute of the Great Plains, 
Lawton, OK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Institute of the Great Plains has completed an inventory 
of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with 
the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes 
or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives 
of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in 
this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human 
remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request 
to the Institute of the Great Plains. If no additional requestors come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native 
Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the Institute of the Great Plains at the 
address in this notice by April 10, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Debra Baker, NAGPRA Representative, Museum of the Great 
Plains, 601 NW Ferris Ave., Lawton, OK 73505, telephone (580) 581-3460, 
email [email protected].

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 under the control of the Institute of the 
Great Plains, Lawton, OK. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Poafpybitty site, in 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). 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 
Institute of the Great Plains professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.

History and Description of the Remains

    In the spring of 1966, human remains representing, at minimum, two 
individuals were removed from the Poafpybitty site in Comanche County, 
OK. Two archeologists from the Museum of the Great Plains, Tyler 
Bastian and Franklin Chappabitty, were called to the area following a 
report that human remains were eroding from the soil. In response to 
the extreme erosion occurring at the site, a salvage excavation was 
performed with the permission of the landowner, Bill Poafpybitty. 
Richard McWilliams, a graduate student of the University of Oklahoma, 
who served as the physical anthropologist for the excavation, removed 
the human remains and associated funerary objects. Instead of 
transferring the human remains and cultural items to the Museum of the 
Great Plains, McWilliams donated them to Wake Forest University in 
Winston-Salem, NC. The only information about the human remains and 
associated funerary objects at Wake Forest University was that they 
belonged to Kiowa burials. In 2007, Debra Baker, an archeologist with 
the Institute of the Great Plains (which is a non-profit organization 
associated with the Museum of the Great Plains and is responsible for 
all collections), located the human remains and cultural items at Wake 
Forest University and oversaw their transfer to the Institute of the 
Great Plains. No known individuals were identified. The 247 associated 
funerary objects are 1 shell breast plate; 1 decorated wood mirror; 93 
brass/copper bracelets; 1 plume holder and fragments from a military 
helmet; 6 stamped bracelets; 1 chain bracelet; 1 lot of fragments from 
a parasol; 1 shell pipe bracelet; 3 metal projectile points; 2 rings; 2 
pocket knives; 1 fragmented belt with tacks and a raised five star 
buckle; 1 rectangular mirror; 7 fragmented tablespoons; 2 fragmented 
concha belts with numerous fragments of conchas; 1 metal pitcher 
handle; 26 fragments of a large tin cup; 1 brass thimble; 1 axe head; 
57 wire nails; 2 square nails; 4 screws; 1 lot of multi colored seed 
beads; 1 glass bottle and cork; 18 assorted buttons; 1 lot of fragments 
from saddle buckles, rings, and stirrups; 2 horse bits; and 9 fragments 
from a decorated headstall.
    A published report in Plains Anthropologist from 1976, titled ``The 
Poafpybitty Site: A Late Nineteenth Century Kiowa Study from 
Southwestern Oklahoma,'' was completed by Museum of the Great Plains 
historian William K. Jones, who served as the ethnographer for the 
report, and by physical anthropologist Richard McWilliams. The report 
states that the Comanche landowner, Mary Poafpybitty, was told by her 
father that the grave contained Kiowas killed prior to the reservation 
period (circa 1875), when her father was a young warrior. According to 
her father's story, the Kiowas were camped on East Cache Creek 
approximately one and a half miles east of the grave site, when Fort 
Sill soldiers attacked the Kiowas and chased some as far as the burial 
site, where several of the Kiowas were killed. Historically and 
geographically, the location of the site was known to be utilized by 
the Kiowa, Kiowa-Apache, and Comanche tribes. Historic documentation 
confirms the presence of Kiowas on East Cache Creek several times in 
the early 1870s, corresponding with Poafpybitty's statement and with 
the dates of the associated funerary objects. Furthermore, the extended 
burial position of the human remains further supports a Kiowa 
affiliation.

Determinations Made by the Institute of the Great Plains

    Officials of the Institute of the Great Plains 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 247 objects 
described in this notice 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 Kiowa 
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice

[[Page 13673]]

that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and 
associated funerary objects should submit a written request with 
information in support of the request to Debra Baker, NAGPRA 
Representative, Museum of the Great Plains, 601 NW Ferris Ave., Lawton, 
OK 73505, telephone (580) 581-3460, email [email protected], 
by April 10, 2014. After that date, if no additional requestors have 
come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma may proceed.
    The Institute of the Great Plains is responsible for notifying the 
Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 25, 2013.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-05188 Filed 3-10-14; 8:45 am]
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