[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51867-51868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24233]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0024154; PCU00RP14.R50000-PPWOCRDN0]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
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 no cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and any present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 
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 Bureau of Indian Affairs. If no additional 
requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: 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 Bureau of Indian Affairs at the address in this 
notice by December 8, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Anna Pardo, Museum Program Manager/NAGPRA Coordinator, U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 12220 Sunrise 
Valley Drive, Room 6084, Reston, VA 20191, telephone (703) 390-6343, 
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 U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC. The human 
remains and associated funerary objects were removed from a site in the 
southern portion of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, 
Glacier County, MT.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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 was made by the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, professional 
staff in consultation with representatives of the Blackfeet Tribe of 
the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana.

History and Description of the Remains

    In September of 1961, human remains representing, at minimum, four 
individuals were removed by Thomas Kehoe, Archeologist and Curator of 
the Museum of the Plains Indian, from a site in Glacier County, MT. At 
the time of this surface removal, the Museum of the Plains Indian was a 
part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Kehoe had been conducting 
extensive archeological surveys throughout the Blackfeet Indian 
Reservation. A note found in the box with these items states, ``Surface 
burial found in Southern portion of Blackfeet Reservation, CUA, 9/61.'' 
The human remains have continued to be housed at the Museum since being 
collected. No known individuals were identified. The 41 associated 
funerary objects are 5 small wooden ladders, 4 spoons, 1 partial key, 1 
bullet press, 1 iron, 1 ladle, 1 enamel tin cup, 2 belt buckles, 1 
scissors blade, 1 bucket part, 16 beads, and 7 brass buttons.

Determinations Made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs

    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on biological and historical 
evidence.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of four

[[Page 51868]]

individuals of Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 41 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), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day 
Indian Tribe.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (15), the land from which the 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed is the tribal land of the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet 
Indian Reservation of Montana.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to the Blackfeet 
Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    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 Anna 
Pardo, Museum Program Manager/NAGPRA Coordinator, U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 12220 Sunrise Valley Drive, 
Room 6084, Reston, VA 20191, telephone (703) 390-6343, email 
[email protected], by December 8, 2017. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Blackfeet Tribe of 
the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana may proceed.
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for notifying the 
Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 14, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-24233 Filed 11-7-17; 8:45 am]
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