[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 50 (Monday, March 16, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13606-13607]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05987]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-17720; 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 a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains 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 should submit a 
written request to Columbia University. If no additional requestors 
come forward, transfer of control of the human remains 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 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 
Sheyenne-Cheyenne Site, 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). 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

    The detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
Columbia University, Department of Anthropology, professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes 
(previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) and the 
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, 
Montana.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1938, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from Sheyenne-Cheyenne site 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.'' The 
cranium had suffered extensive postmortem damage and was partially 
restored at the AMNH by Kenneth Mowbray at some date prior to 2002. 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. The remains consist of a cranium representing one 
adult individual. This individual was identified as Native American 
based on Strong's documentation and non-invasive assessment of cranial 
features. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Strong, in his expedition field notes (National Anthropological 
Archives, Strong Papers, Box 21, Field Work 1938), refers to beginning 
excavations at Sheyenne-Cheyenne site on July 8, 1938 (p.19a). He 
writes of the discovery of a

[[Page 13607]]

partial bundle burial just beyond the edge of the house. It is 
initially identified as Burial #12, and later as Burial 1 #12 at House 
23. W. Raymond Wood in his 1955 publication refers to this site as the 
``Biesterfeldt or Sheyenne-Cheyenne Site (32RM1)'' (Plains 
Anthropological Society 1955 3:3-12) and describes it as ``the remains 
of a village of the formerly semi-sedentary Cheyenne Indians.'' Strong 
writes in his field notes that the site was historically Cheyenne and 
was abandoned after a Chippewa attack in 1790, citing Libby, Swanton, 
Thompson, and others. Two years later, in Strong's 1940 work 
(Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 100:353-394), he provides the 
date of 1770 for the abandonment of the site. He explained that Swanton 
(1930), drawing on Thompson, believed that the village had been burned 
not much before 1790, while Henry (1897) ``refers to the same event as 
occurring about 1740.'' At this point, Strong ``assumed 1770 as a 
median date'' (p. 371). Today, the Cheyenne are represented by the 
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho 
Tribes of Oklahoma) and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana.

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 represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
     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 the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (previously 
listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) and the Northern 
Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    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 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 Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (previously listed as the Cheyenne-
Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the 
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana, may proceed.
    The Columbia University, Department of Anthropology, is responsible 
for notifying the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes (previously listed as the 
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of 
the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana, that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: February 23, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-05987 Filed 3-13-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P