[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 217 (Wednesday, November 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78845-78846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-26975]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22252; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Omaha District, Omaha, NE

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 December 9, 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

[[Page 78846]]

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 Item(s)

    Cultural items consisting of seven unassociated funerary objects 
that were collected from 39WW7, the Swan Creek site, Dewey County, 
South Dakota, are presently located at the South Dakota State 
Archaeological Research Center (SARC), under the managerial control of 
the Omaha District.
    The Swan Creek site, 39WW2 was an earthlodge village and cemetery 
that was excavated between 1954 and 1956 prior to inundation by flood 
waters of the Oahe Reservoir. Over 125 sets of human remains were 
recovered, and 102 of these individuals are currently housed at SARC 
and reported under a separate Notice of Inventory Completion. Human 
remains of the other individuals were reburied in 1986 at site 39ST15.
    SARC currently holds seven funerary objects that were originally 
collected with individuals that were reburied. The excavation records 
clearly show these items as having been removed from the burial of a 
specific individual. These seven unassociated funerary objects are one 
lithic projectile point and six ceramic body sherds from the same 
ceramic vessel.
    Site 39WW7 is an earthlodge village and associated cemetery. Based 
on village organization, fortifications, geographic location and 
features, as well as the associated artifact assemblage, the site is 
believed to represent at least two major time periods, the Akaska Focus 
of the Extended Coalescent (A.D. 1500-1675) and the Le Beau Phase of 
the Post Contact Coalescent (A.D. 1675-1780) of the Plans Village 
tradition. Based on oral tradition, historic accounts, archaeological 
evidence, geographical location, and physical anthropological 
interpretations, both the Extended and Post Contact Coalescent variants 
are believed to be ancestral Arikara. The Arikara are represented today 
by the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. 
Consultation with the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation 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 seven 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 a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     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 December 9, 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 Dakota, that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: October 24, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-26975 Filed 11-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P