[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 50 (Monday, March 16, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13602-13603]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05981]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-17722; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Columbia University, Department 
of Anthropology, New York, NY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Columbia University, Department of Anthropology, has 
completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has 
determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 
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 should submit a written request to Columbia 
University. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains to the Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: 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 should submit a written 
request with information in support of the request to Columbia 
University at the address in this notice by April 15, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Nan Rothschild, Department of Anthropology, Columbia 
University, 1200 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027, telephone (212) 
854-4977, 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 under 
the control of Columbia University. The human remains were removed from 
Okiedan Butte, Ransom County, ND.
    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 Columbia 
University, Department of Anthropology, professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes 
of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana; Cheyenne and Arapaho 
Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of 
Oklahoma); Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Sioux 
Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek 
Reservation, South Dakota; 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, South Dakota (previously 
listed as the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South 
Dakota); Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South 
Dakota; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of 
North & South Dakota Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota 
(hereafter listed as ``The Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1938, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from Okiedan Butte in Ransom County, ND. The excavation 
was led by William Duncan Strong and jointly sponsored by Columbia 
University and the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Strong 
brought the human remains to the American Museum of Natural History 
(AMNH) where they were placed on ``permanent loan.'' In January 2002, a 
detailed assessment of the human remains was made by researchers at 
Columbia University and in August 2011, the AMNH transferred the human 
remains to the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University. Three 
fragmentary skulls, representing two adults and one child were 
identified. These individuals have been identified as Native American 
based on Strong's documentation and non-invasive assessment of cranial 
features. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Strong's field notes (National Anthropological Archives, Strong 
Papers, Box 21, Field Work 1938) refer to excavations at Mound #1 at 
Okiedan Buttes (sic) on July 28, 1938. Strong's notes are interspersed 
with that of another writer with the signature of C. Smith. Carlyle S. 
Smith was a graduate student at Columbia and a member of this team, 
however it is Smith's name that appears on field tags associated with 
these remains. The field designations, A, B, and C, correspond with the 
numbers in Strong's 1938 field notes referring to burials from 
``Okiedan Butte, Mound #1.'' According to Dr. Douglas Owsley (NMNH), 
who examined these remains in 2003, bone preservation suggests a Late 
Woodland date or later, possibly A.D. 900-1400.

Determinations Made by Columbia University, Department of Anthropology

    Officials of Columbia University, Department of Anthropology, have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on Strong's documentation and 
non-invasive assessment of cranial features.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of three 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.

[[Page 13603]]

     According to final judgments of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, the land from which the 
Native American human remains were removed is the aboriginal land of 
The Tribes.
     Treaties, Acts of Congress, or Executive Orders, indicate 
that the land from which the Native American human remains were removed 
is the aboriginal land of The Tribes.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains may be to The Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    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 should submit a written request with information 
in support of the request to Dr. Nan Rothschild, Department of 
Anthropology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 
10027, telephone (212) 854-4977, email [email protected], by April 15, 
2015. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains to The Tribes may proceed.
    The Columbia University, Department of Anthropology, is responsible 
for The Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 23, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-05981 Filed 3-13-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4310-50-P