[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19626-19627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07767]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20586]; [PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: 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), in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed 
in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. 
Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request to the Omaha 
District. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control 
of the cultural items 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 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Omaha District at the 
address in this notice by May 5, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Ms. Sandra Barnum, U.S. Army Engineer District, Omaha, ATTN: 
CENWO-PM-AB, 1616 Capital Avenue, Omaha, NE 68102, telephone, (402) 
995-2674, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given in accordance with 
the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the Omaha District, Omaha, NE., that meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    Cultural items consisting of 1,045 unassociated funerary objects 
were removed from 39DW2, the Four Bear site, Dewey County, SD. They are 
presently located at the South Dakota SARC and are under the control of 
the Omaha District.
    The Four Bear site, 39DW2 was an earthlodge village on the west 
bank of the Missouri River. It was first visited in the 1930s by Alfred 
Bowers of the Smithsonian Institution. Between 1958 and 1959, salvage 
excavations were conducted at the site prior to inundation by flood 
waters of the Oahe Reservoir. At least 100 sets of human remains were 
recovered. Twelve sets of human remains are currently housed at SARC 
and have been reported under a separate Notice of Inventory Completion. 
In addition, a total of 64 sets of human remains were reburied either 
on Four Bear site or at site 39ST15. The whereabouts of the remaining 
24 sets of human remains is currently unknown.
    SARC currently has physical custody of 1,045 funerary objects that 
were originally removed with individuals whose remains were either 
reburied or whose present location is unknown. The excavation records 
clearly show that all these items were removed from the burials of 
specific individuals. The 1,045 unassociated funerary objects are 572 
shell and glass beads, 4 bone tools, 34 ceramic sherds, 1 ceramic 
vessel, 333 copper sleeves crimped on leather, 1 bundle of copper 
sleeves with hide, 7 cooper and brass tubes, 2 metal knife blades, 1 
iron wire bracelet, 20 copper ornaments, 2 leather earrings, 1 dog 
cranium, 23 faunal fragments, 1 mussel shell, 3 chert endscrapers, 1 
lot of plant fiber, 2 lots of wood fragments, 7 individual wood 
fragments, 13 pieces of soil with red ochre, and 17 seeds.
    The Four Bear site, 39 DW2 was probably occupied during the last 
two decades of the 1700s, which falls into the Disorganized Coalescent 
variant (A.D. 1780-1862) of the Plains Village Tradition. At least 36 
circular lodges were identified. The excavators located a cemetery 
associated with the village a short distance to the southwest of the 
village site. In addition to the mortuary practices and types of 
funerary objects in evidence, the architecture of the circular earth 
lodges, community plan, physical location, and ceramic types support 
the association of the site to the late 1700s. It is possible that the 
site was first documented in William Clark's journal on October 6, 
1804, as well as being mentioned in journals of members of the Lewis 
and Clark Expedition. The journals mention that the ``Ricara'' had left 
the village the prior spring. Populations associated with the 
Coalescent tradition within this area and time frame, as evidenced by 
the ethnographic and archeological record, are believed to be ancestral 
to the Arikara. The Arikara are represented today by the Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota. 
Consultation with the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota, indicates that these objects represent the 
kinds of objects that are placed with individuals at the time of death.

Determinations Made by the Omaha District

    Officials of the Omaha District have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 1,045 cultural items 
described above 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from the specific burial sites of Native 
American individuals.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects and 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 claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Ms. Sandra Barnum, U.S. Army Engineer 
District, Omaha, ATTN: CENWO-PM-AB, 1616 Capital Avenue, Omaha, NE 
68102, telephone, (402) 995-2674, email [email protected], 
by May 5, 2016. After that date, if no additional claimants have come 
forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary objects to 
the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North 
Dakota.
    The Omaha District is responsible for notifying the Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North

[[Page 19627]]

Dakota, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 10, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-07767 Filed 4-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P