[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 76 (Thursday, April 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17435-17436]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-08175]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0025287, PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Wisconsin Historical Society, 
Madison, WI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Wisconsin Historical Society 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 
Wisconsin Historical Society. 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 Wisconsin Historical Society at the address in this 
notice by May 21, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Jennifer Kolb, Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State 
Street, Madison, WI 53706, telephone (608) 264-6434, 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 Wisconsin 
Historical Society, Madison, WI. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from the Mosquito Island Sandbar 
Discovery, Buffalo County, and the Schwert Mound Group, Trempealeau 
County, WI.
    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 
Wisconsin Historical Society professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; 
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior 
Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin; 
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin; and Upper Sioux Community, 
Minnesota.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1966, human remains representing, at minimum, 56 individuals 
were removed from Schwert Mound Group (47-TR-0031) in Trempealeau 
County, WI. The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS), in a joint project 
with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Anthropology 
and Center for Climatic Research, excavated two mounds (Mounds 4 and 
26) at the site in 1966. All of the human remains in Mound 4 were found 
in a single sub-floor burial pit with 24 distinct burial areas within 
the pit (Burials 1-15, 17-25). Internment patterns included fully 
extended individuals and bundle burials. Skeletal analysis determined 
that these remains represent four adult males, five adult females, 
thirteen adults of indeterminate sex, six juveniles, and five 
individuals of indeterminate age and sex. Five out of the six subadults 
were interred with an adult. Remains were found in two separate 
locations

[[Page 17436]]

within Mound 26. The earliest burials were interred in a single sub-
floor burial pit below the mound, and a second internment phase 
consisted of two distinct intrusive burial areas. Eight separate bundle 
burials (Burials A-H) were excavated and scattered individual bones 
were also found in the burial pit. Skeletal analysis determined that 
the remains represent 11 adult males, one adult female, three adults of 
indeterminate sex, six subadults, one fetus, and one individual of 
indeterminate age and sex. Similar to Mound 4, five of the subadults 
were buried with at least one adult. No known individuals were 
identified. The 48 associated funerary objects are 14 stone blades, one 
chert core, four ceramic vessels, one clay plug, two copper tubes, one 
sheet of copper, ten groups of stone flakes, one chert biface fragment, 
nine groups of ceramic sherds, one group of charcoal, one group of wood 
fragments, one group of animal bone, and two groups of stone fragments.
    In 2003, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from the Mosquito Island Sandbar Discovery (47-BF-0233) in 
Buffalo County, WI. The human remains from this site consist of a 
single femur found by a family playing on a sandbar near Mosquito 
Island in the Mississippi River. The family took the femur to Dr. 
William McNeil of the Winona, Minnesota Community Memorial Hospital, 
who identified the femur as human. Dr. McNeil then contacted Dr. Thomas 
Retzinger of the Winona County Coroner's Office who contacted the 
Minnesota State Archeologist, Mark Dudzik. Dudzik determined that the 
site of recovery was within Wisconsin and sent the human remains for 
deposition and analysis to the Wisconsin Historical Society Burial 
Sites Preservation Office (BSPO). Skeletal analysis by BSPO staff 
determined the femur exhibited morphological features consistent with 
Native American ancestry. Due to the nature of the discovery, the time 
period to which the human remains date and whether their place of 
recovery was their primary burial location is not known. Additionally, 
there are no known burial sites along the Mississippi River in Buffalo 
County. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.

Determinations Made by the Wisconsin Historical Society

    Officials of the Wisconsin Historical Society have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on Wisconsin Historical 
Society records, burial location, archeological context, oral 
histories, and skeletal analysis.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 57 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 48 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.
     Treaties, Acts of Congress, or Executive Orders, indicate 
that the land from which the Native American human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed is the aboriginal land of the 
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 
Montana; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, 
South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, 
South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Brule 
Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South Dakota; Lower Sioux 
Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Oglala Sioux Tribe 
(previously listed as the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge 
Reservation, South Dakota); Prairie Island Indian Community in the 
State of Minnesota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian 
Reservation, South Dakota; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Shakopee 
Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of 
the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North 
Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; Upper Sioux 
Community, Minnesota; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota 
(hereafter referred to as ``The Aboriginal Land Tribes'').
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to The Aboriginal 
Land Tribes.

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 Jennifer 
Kolb, Wisconsin Historical Society, 816 State Street, Madison, WI 
53706, telephone (608) 264-6434, email 
[email protected] by May 21, 2018. After that date, if 
no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to The Aboriginal Land 
Tribes may proceed.
    The Wisconsin Historical Society is responsible for notifying The 
Aboriginal Land Tribes; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; 
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior 
Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin; and 
Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: March 22, 2018.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2018-08175 Filed 4-18-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P