[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60439-60441]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24395]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0029073; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: South Dakota State Historical 
Society, Archaeological Research Center, Rapid City, SD

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The South Dakota State Historical Society, Archaeological 
Research Center 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

[[Page 60440]]

funerary objects should submit a written request to the South Dakota 
State Historical Society, Archaeological Research Center. 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 South Dakota State Historical Society, 
Archaeological Research Center at the address in this notice by 
December 9, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Katherine Lamie, South Dakota State Historical Society-
Archaeological Research Center, 217 Kansas City Street, Rapid City, SD 
57701, telephone (605) 394-1804, 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 South Dakota State 
Historical Society, Archaeological Research Center, Rapid City, SD. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from 
Marshall County, SD.
    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 South 
Dakota State Historical Society, Archaeological Research Center 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Oglala 
Sioux Tribe (previously listed as the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine 
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota); Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud 
Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; 
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; 
Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & 
South Dakota; and the Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota.
    The following Indian Tribes were invited to consult, but deferred 
to the consulting Tribes by submitting letters of support: Cheyenne and 
Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho 
Tribes of Oklahoma); Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota (Six component 
reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; Grand 
Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth Band); 
Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; 
Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; and the 
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota.
    The following Indian Tribes were invited to consult, but did not 
participate: Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; 
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 
Montana; Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians 
of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of 
the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Chippewa-Cree 
Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana (previously listed as 
the Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana); 
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; 
Crow Tribe of Montana; Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming (previously listed as the Shoshone Tribe of the 
Wind River Reservation, Wyoming); Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South 
Dakota; Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Fort Belknap 
Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana; Ho-Chunk 
Nation of Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Lac Courte Oreilles Band of 
Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of 
the Lower Brule Reservation, South Dakota; Lower Sioux Indian Community 
in the State of Minnesota; Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota (Six 
component reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; 
Grand Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth 
Band); Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian 
Reservation, Montana; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Ponca Tribe of Indians 
of Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior 
Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, 
Minnesota; Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & 
Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa; Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; 
Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota; Winnebago 
Tribe of Nebraska; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
    Hereafter, all tribes listed in this section are referred to as 
``The Consulted and Notified Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    In the 1970s, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from site 39ML11 in Marshall County, SD, by the 
private landowner. The landowner had discovered cranial and post 
cranial human remains while picking rocks in a former gravel pit. In 
1998, the landowner showed the Marshall County Sheriff where the human 
remains were found, and turned the human remains over to law 
enforcement. The Marshall County Sheriff's Office then transferred the 
human remains to the Archaeological Research Center (accession 99-
0064). The human remains belong to an adult male, 40-50 years old. No 
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Site 39ML11 is recorded as a historic military installation 
associated with Fort Sisseton, which is located farther to the west. 
However, a physical anthropological assessment determined that the 
robust morphological features on the skeletal remains are consistent 
with populations that date to the Northeast Plains Woodland Period (400 
B.C. to A.D. 1250).
    At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, six 
individuals were removed from Marshall County, SD. At an unknown date, 
the human remains were given to the Prayer Rock Museum, which has no 
documentation on the human remains. In May 2005, a human cranium, 
representing one of the six individuals, was delivered to the Marshall 
County Sheriff's Office by a museum board member who discovered the 
human remains in a box at the museum. In June 2005, the Marshall County 
Sheriff's Office transferred the cranium to the Archaeological Research 
Center (accession 05-0289). In December 2005, human remains 
representing the other five individuals were delivered to the Marshall 
County Sheriff's Office after the new property owner discovered them in 
a shed that was attached to the former Prayer Rock Museum building. In 
December 2005, the Marshall County Sheriff's Office transferred these 
additional human remains to the Archaeological Research Center (added

[[Page 60441]]

to accession 05-0289). The human remains belong to one male adolescent, 
one female adolescent, two female young adults, one male young adult, 
and one male adult. All of the human remains are characterized by 
affixed soil and degrees of soil staining. Some elements show 
differential bleaching from exposure to sunlight, which suggests that 
they may have been originally recovered from a disturbed or eroded 
burial context. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Based on their physical condition, the human remains were most 
likely interred below the ground surface over 100 years ago. Whether 
the six individuals were interred within the same burial feature is 
unclear. The human remains are most likely Native American based on 
their morphological features and tooth wear pattern.
    In 2010, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from site 39ML18 in Marshall County, SD, by archeologists 
from the Archaeological Research Center during the investigation of a 
burial disturbance. All skeletal elements and associated funerary 
objects were recovered out of context, in previously disturbed fill 
that had been imported by the landowner from a former gravel pit as 
part of a home remodeling project. According to the landowner, human 
skeletal remains were rumored to have been discovered during gravel pit 
operations at the same location by county personnel in the 1940s and 
1950s. The human remains and associated funerary objects recovered from 
the site were brought to the Archaeological Research Center for 
documentation at the completion of the field investigation (accession 
10-0137). A physical anthropological assessment determined that the 
fragmentary skeletal elements are consistent with Native American 
archeological remains, and represent two adult males and one sub-adult 
of indeterminate sex, 2.5 to 3.5 years old. No known individuals were 
identified. The four associated funerary objects are one soil sample, 
one chert shatter, one possible stone bead, and one stone sample.
    Site 39ML18 was initially documented in the late 1800s as one of 
several local burial mound sites overlooking Kettle Lake near Fort 
Sisseton. Based on morphological features and the probable original 
burial context, the human remains may date to the Northeast Plains 
Woodland Period (400 B.C. to A.D. 1250).

Determinations Made by the South Dakota State Historical Society, 
Archaeological Research Center

    Officials of the South Dakota State Historical Society, 
Archaeological Research Center have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on a physical anthropological 
assessment and an evaluation of the manner and location of burial.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of ten individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the four 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.
     According to final judgments of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, the land from which the 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed is the aboriginal land of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the 
Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota.
     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 
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to the Sisseton-
Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota.

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 Katherine 
Lamie, South Dakota State Historical Society-Archaeological Research 
Center, 217 Kansas City Street, Rapid City, SD 57701, telephone (605) 
394-1804, email [email protected], by December 9, 2019. After 
that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota 
may proceed.
    The South Dakota State Historical Society, Archaeological Research 
Center is responsible for notifying The Consulted and Notified Tribes 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: October 4, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-24395 Filed 11-7-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P