[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 190 (Thursday, October 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59182-59183]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25049]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-19249; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Defense, Army 
Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Omaha, NE, and State Archaeological 
Research Center, Rapid City, SD

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District (Omaha 
District), 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 Omaha District. 
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 Omaha District at the address in this 
notice by November 2, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Ms. Sandra Barnum, U.S. Army Engineer District, Omaha, ATTN: 
CENWO-PM-AB, 1616 Capitol Ave., Omaha, NE 68102, telephone, (402) 995-
2674, 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 Omaha District. 
The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from the 
Akichita site (39BF221), Buffalo County, SD.

[[Page 59183]]

    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 and associated funerary 
objects was made by State Archaeological Research Center and Omaha 
District professional staff in consultation with representatives of The 
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1962, human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals 
were removed from the Akichita site (39BF221) in Buffalo County, SD. 
Human remains excavated from the Akichita Site (39BF221) are presently 
located at the South Dakota State Archaeological Research Center 
(SARC), under control of the Omaha District. The human remains were 
collected during a salvage excavation at the site under the direction 
of Robert Gant, State Archaeological Commission, Vermillion, SD. The 
human remains, soil samples, and funerary objects collected by Gant 
were transported to the Commission's office at the W.H. Over Museum, 
Vermillion, SD.
    In 1974, the collections were transferred to the newly established 
SARC. The human remains were then transferred to the University of 
Tennessee-Knoxville to be inventoried by Dr. William Bass.
    The remains were returned to SARC in the 1980s, and were reburied 
at site 39ST15 along the Missouri River near Fort Pierre.
    In 1999, a review of the 39BF221 collection located fragments of 
human remains from a these burials along with 7 funerary objects. The 
additional human remains, primarily hand bones, are from two adult 
individuals. No known individuals were identified. The associated 
funerary objects are 6 soil samples and a fragmented birch-wood twig 
mat.
    The human remains were collected from the component of the site 
associated with the Coalescent Tradition (AD 1300-1780). The human 
remains are determined to be Native American due to their manner of 
burial, original context in the Native American component of the site, 
and the associated site artifacts of Native American origin. The 
Coalescent Tradition, based on oral tradition, physical anthropological 
data, archaeological data, and historic accounts, is likely to be 
ancestral Arikara. The Arikara are represented by the Three Affiliated 
Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.

 Determinations U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

    Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District 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 7 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 Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.

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 and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Ms. Sandra Barnum, U.S. Army Engineer 
District, Omaha, ATTN: CENWO-PM-AB, 1616 Capitol Ave., Omaha, NE 68102, 
telephone, (402) 995-2674, email [email protected] by 
November 2, 2015. After that date, if no additional requestors have 
come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota, may proceed.
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District is responsible for 
notifying the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, 
North Dakota, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 8, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-25049 Filed 9-30-15; 8:45 am]
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