[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 14, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27284-27285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-12297]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-23404; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: State Historical 
Society of North Dakota, Bismarck, ND

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The State Historical Society of North Dakota, 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 objects of cultural patrimony. 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 State Historical Society of 
North Dakota. 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 State Historical Society of 
North Dakota at the address in this notice by July 14, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Melissa Thompson, State Historical Society of North Dakota, 
612 East Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58505, telephone (701) 328-
2691, 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, Bismarck, ND, 
that meet the definition of objects of cultural patrimony 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.

[[Page 27285]]

History and Description of the Cultural Item

    On an unknown date, an unknown number of cultural items were 
removed from an unknown site in an unknown location. In August of 2016, 
a wooden anthropomorphic figurine was found in the Museum Division 
storage space. The cultural item was found in a box dating to the 1950s 
that was used for storage of items in the possession of the State 
Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND), but never formally 
accessioned or cataloged into the museum collection. Museum opinion is 
that the figurine was placed in the storage box in the 1950s, but no 
other provenance information is available. The object of cultural 
patrimony is a Can Otina. It is an object that does not belong to an 
individual, though individuals care for it. It is an object that would 
be used for protection of the camp, portending future events, helping 
with planting or finding food or medicines, or serving the needs of the 
community in other ways. It is a helper to the people and an essential 
part of tribal identity and the maintenance of tribal traditions.
    The Can Otina was identified by a Dakota spiritual leader as 
belonging to the Sisitunwan (Dwellers by the Fish Camp-Ground) fire of 
the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) that make up what is often 
referred to as the ``Sioux Nation.'' In addition to the Sisitunwan, the 
Oceti Sakowin is composed of the Wahpetunwan, Bdewakantunwan, 
Wahpekute, Ihanktunwan, Ihanktunwanna, and Titunwan peoples, all of 
whom are Dakota, Lakota, or Nakota. The Sisitunwan are Dakota people. 
Their first reservation land was negotiated under the Treaty of 
Traverse des Sioux in 1851, and then initially reduced under the Treaty 
of 1858, relegating this council fire to a strip of land bordering the 
Minnesota River in southern Minnesota. These treaties were unilaterally 
abrogated by the United States Government after the U.S.-Dakota War of 
1862 and Dakota people were force-marched and ethnically-cleansed from 
their Minnesota homeland in 1863. By the late 1880s, Sisitunwan and 
Wahpetunwan Dakota people began returning to this portion of Minnesota 
and reestablishing a community near what was formerly called the Upper 
Sioux Agency. A new, vastly smaller reservation was established by the 
federal government in 1938, all of which is located on the original 
reservation treaty land. Upper Sioux is one of the few Oceti Sakowin 
reservations where a distinct segment of the population specifically 
identifies as Sisitunwan (others include Spirit Lake, Fort Peck, and 
the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe), though people with Sisitunwan blood 
continue to live on most, if not all, Oceti Sakowin reservation 
communities. The distinctive Sisitunwan identity still pervasive at 
Upper Sioux makes this community a strong choice for repatriation of 
Sisitunwan NAGPRA collections.

Determinations Made by the State Historical Society of North Dakota

    Officials of the State Historical Society of North Dakota have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), the one cultural item 
described above has ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural 
importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, 
rather than property owned by an individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the object 
of cultural patrimony and the Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota.

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 Melissa Thompson, State Historical Society 
of North Dakota, 612 East Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58505, 
telephone (701) 328-2691, email [email protected], by July 14, 2017. 
After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer 
of control of the object of cultural patrimony to the Upper Sioux 
Community, Minnesota, may proceed.
    The State Historical Society of North Dakota is responsible for 
notifying the Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota, that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: May 15, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-12297 Filed 6-13-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P