[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 149 (Monday, August 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46708-46710]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16778]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030514; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Harpers Ferry, 
IA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 
Effigy Mounds National Monument 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 a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes 
or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or 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 Effigy Mounds National Monument. If no additional requestors come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects 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 
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 Effigy Mounds National Monument at the 
address in this notice by September 2, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Jim Nepstad, Superintendent, Effigy Mounds National 
Monument, 151 Hwy 76, Harpers Ferry, IA 52146, telephone (563) 873-3491 
Ext. 101, 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, National Park Service, Effigy Mounds National Monument, 
Harpers Ferry, IA. The human remains and associated funerary objects 
were removed from sites in Allamakee and Clayton Counties, IA.
    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 
Superintendent, Effigy Mounds National Monument.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Effigy 
Mounds National Monument professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek 
Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South

[[Page 46709]]

Dakota; Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of Kansas and 
Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the 
State of Minnesota; Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of 
Indians, Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; Prairie Island Indian 
Community in the State of Minnesota; Sac & Fox Nation of Missouri in 
Kansas and Nebraska; Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox Tribe of the 
Mississippi in Iowa; Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Shakopee 
Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of 
the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe 
of North & South Dakota; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; Winnebago 
Tribe of Nebraska; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota 
(hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    The human remains described below, with the exception of the one 
individual removed from Marquette Rockshelter, were stolen from Effigy 
Mounds National Monument in 1990 and recovered in 2011 and 2012.
    Because the mounds at Effigy Mounds National Monument are burial 
mounds, all artifacts that come from these mounds are considered 
funerary objects. All of the funerary objects are considered associated 
funerary objects because, even though these types of items likely had 
other uses within the culture, it is reasonable to believe that these 
specific funerary objects were made exclusively for burial purposes and 
therefore pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A) are associated funerary 
objects regardless of the location of the connected human remains.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from the Marquette Rockshelter, Clayton County, 
IA, by unknown persons. It is not known how the remains entered the 
collection at Effigy Mounds National Monument. No known individuals 
were identified. The 837 associated funerary objects are 450 faunal 
bones, 231 pottery sherds, three utilized flakes, 45 unmodified stones, 
two flakes, 92 pieces of shell, one bone tool, 10 pieces of shatter, 
two modified flakes, and one gorget fragment.
    In 1950, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from the Nazekaw Terrace Mound Group in Allamakee County, 
IA, by NPS archeologist Paul Beaubien. No known individuals were 
identified. The 33 associated funerary objects are two Snyders 
projectile points, one bear canine tooth, one flake tool, four 
unmodified stones, two pieces of shatter, two faunal bones, two 
projectile points, four burnt animal tooth fragments, one pottery 
sherd, nine non-human bone, two pieces of burned earth, and three 
pieces of charcoal.
    In 1952, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from the Sny Magill Mound Group in Clayton County, IA, by 
NPS archeologist Paul Beaubien. No known individuals were identified. 
The 96 associated funerary objects are one faunal bone, one Madison 
Triangular projectile point, one broken projectile point, one biface, 
two biface fragments, 15 flakes, 11 utilized flakes, five modified 
flakes, one Manker or Koster projectile point, one red ocher sample, 34 
pottery sherds, one projectile point base, seven pieces of shatter, 
three unmodified stones, one Kramer projectile point, two Agate Basin 
lanceolate blades, five copper beads, one scraper, one expanding 
stemmed projectile point, one straight stemmed projectile point, and 
one hammerstone.
    In 1952 and 1962, human remains representing, at minimum, five 
individuals were removed from the Fire Point Mound Group in Allamakee 
County, IA, by NPS archeologists Wilfred Logan and Garland Gordon. No 
known individuals were identified. The 152 associated funerary objects 
are one copper breastplate, one mica sheet, one drill, one scraper, 109 
unmodified stones, nine pieces of shatter, six flakes, one nut shell, 
one test core, five pieces of burned earth, three fire cracked rocks, 
one flat bone fragment, nine freshwater mussel shell fragments, and 
four pottery sherds.
    In 1954, human remains representing, at minimum, 14 individuals 
were removed from the Highway 76 Rockshelter in Clayton County, IA. 
Excavations were initiated by Leland Cooper from Hamline University and 
finished by NPS archeologist Wilfred Logan. No known individuals were 
identified. The 1,572 associated funerary objects are 8 fragments of 
miniature pots, 189 pottery sherds, 1,166 faunal bones, 159 freshwater 
mussel and land snail shells, 11 unmodified stones, three charcoal 
samples, one rectangular polished turtle shell, one Waubesa projectile 
point, two Madison Triangular projectile points, one clay sample, eight 
bone tools, six flakes, four pieces of shatter, one core, five utilized 
flakes, two modified flakes, one soil sample, two freshwater pearls, 
one bone artifact, and one biface tool.
    In 1961, 12 cultural items were removed from the Marching Bear 
Mound Group in Clayton County, IA, by NPS archeologist John Ingmanson 
during the mound rehabilitation project. The 12 associated funerary 
objects are two pieces of burnt limestone, three utilized flakes, three 
flakes, and four pieces of shatter.
    In 1962, 427 cultural items were removed from the Nazekaw Terrace 
Mound Group in Allamakee County, IA, by NPS archeologist Garland Gordon 
during the mound rehabilitation project. The 427 associated funerary 
objects are 12 bifaces, 40 utilized flakes, 162 unmodified stones, 74 
flakes, six cores, 92 pieces of shatter, 25 pottery sherds, one drill 
fragment, one Durst projectile point, one possible Little Sioux 
projectile point, one small corner notched projectile point, eight 
modified flakes, one stone tool, one utilized spall, and two charcoal 
samples.
    In 1962, two cultural items were removed from the Yellow River 
Mound Group in Allamakee County, IA, by NPS archeologist Garland Gordon 
during the mound rehabilitation project. The two associated funerary 
objects are pottery sherds.
    In 1965, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from the Fire Point Mound Group in Allamakee County, IA, 
by NPS archeologist Garland Gordon during the mound rehabilitation 
project. No known individuals were identified. The 13 associated 
funerary objects are 10 unmodified stones, one flake, one land snail 
shell, and one soil sample.
    In 1965, soil samples were collected from various mound sites in 
Effigy Mounds National Monument by the University of Wisconsin-Madison 
during the mound rehabilitation project. In 2016, the processed soil 
samples were returned to Effigy Mounds National Monument. One soil 
sample had lost its provenience information, so the mound site from 
which it was removed is unknown. All other soil samples were 
repatriated and reburied in 2019 or are described elsewhere in this 
notice. The one associated funerary object is a soil sample.
    Based on archeological context, ethnographic information, and oral 
traditions the human remains and associated funerary objects described 
above are identified as belonging to the Woodland tradition.
    The Woodland tradition transitions into the Oneota tradition which 
is identified as being clearly ancestral to the Ho-Chunk Nation of 
Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Omaha Tribe of Nebraska; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; 
Ponca Tribe of Nebraska; and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.

[[Page 46710]]

    The First Treaty of Prairie Du Chien of August 19, 1825 between the 
United States and the Sac and Fox, Dakota Sioux, Ioway, Ho-Chunk, 
Winnebago, Potawatomi, Chippewa, Menominee, and Ottawa demonstrates the 
variety of Tribes living in the area in the 1800s who have historic 
affiliation with Effigy Mounds National Monument.
    The First Treaty of Prairie du Chien, as well as linguistic, oral 
tradition, temporal and geographic evidence, reasonably indicates that 
the following Sioux Indian Tribes possess ancestral ties to the Effigy 
Mounds National Monument region and the human remains and associated 
funerary objects described above: Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow 
Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South 
Dakota; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Prairie 
Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Santee Sioux Nation, 
Nebraska; Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota; Sisseton-
Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Standing 
Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; Upper Sioux Community, 
Minnesota; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National 
Park Service, Effigy Mounds National Monument

    Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park 
Service, Effigy Mounds National Monument have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 25 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 3,145 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 and to have been made exclusively 
for burial purposes or to contain human remains.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Crow 
Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; 
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Ho-Chunk Nation of 
Wisconsin; Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska; Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Lower Sioux Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Omaha Tribe of 
Nebraska; Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Ponca Tribe of 
Nebraska; Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; 
Santee Sioux Nation, Nebraska; Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of 
Minnesota; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, 
South Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; Upper 
Sioux Community, Minnesota; Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska; and the 
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota (hereafter referred to as ``The 
Tribes'').

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or 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 Jim Nepstad, Superintendent, Effigy Mounds 
National Monument, 151 Hwy 76, Harpers Ferry, IA 52146, telephone (563) 
873-3491 Ext. 101, email [email protected], by September 2, 2020. 
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to The Tribes may proceed.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Effigy 
Mounds National Monument is responsible for notifying The Consulted 
Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 25, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2020-16778 Filed 7-31-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P