[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19983-19984]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06919]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035575; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, 
St. Paul, MN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council has 
completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects 
and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the 
human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from Big Stone, Chisago, 
Faribault, Hennepin, Grant, Ramsey, and Traverse Counties, MN, and from 
an unknown county in southern MN.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after May 4, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Dylan Goetsch, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, 161 St. 
Anthony Avenue, Suite 919, St. Paul, MN 55103, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional 
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results 
of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held 
by the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council.

Description

    In the spring of 1951, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual, were unearthed during construction for the Theater of 
Seasons Caf[eacute] (21BS0020) in Big Stone County, MN. In January of 
1997, a private citizen turned the human remains over the Minnesota 
Office of the State Archaeologist. On August 1, 1997, the Minnesota 
State Archaeologist transferred the human remains to the Minnesota 
Indian Affairs Council (H323). These human remains belong to a male of 
middle-to-late adult age. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    On September 14, 1931, human remains representing, at minimum, four 
individuals were removed from a disturbed mound during Highway 8 
construction on the south side of the highway between Lindstrom and 
Center City in Chisago County, MN. On March 27, 2012, the human remains 
were transferred to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (H455). No 
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    On September 16, 2014, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were recovered from a sandbar on the Blue Earth River, a 
tributary of the Minnesota River, southwest of Winnebago in Faribault 
County, MN, by a private citizen canoeing on the river. Following their 
recovery, these human remains were sent to the Ramsey County Medical 
Examiner's Office. On September 25, 2015, the human remains were 
transferred to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (H487). No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1963 or 1964, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were unearthed on a farm in Grant County, MN, by a person 
working for the family that owned the land. In August of 2018, the 
landowners brought the human remains to the Grant County Historical 
Society. On September 14, 2018, the Grant County Historical Society 
sent the human remains to the Office of the State Archaeologist. On 
November 30, 2018, the human remains were transferred to the Minnesota 
Indian Affairs Council (H521). No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    In 2014, Hennepin County personnel disturbed numerous burials 
belonging to the Shaver Mound group in Minnetonka. Following the burial 
disturbance, MIAC and Hamline University recovered and reburied the 
human remains.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual (a single 
human bone fragment) was found after the reburial and recovery and was 
turned over to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In the fall of 2021, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual (the distal epiphysis of a human femur) was identified by 
Upper Sioux tribal monitors during a water main replacement project in 
Minnetonka and was turned over to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. 
No known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    At an unknown time, human remains representing, at minimum, eight 
individuals were removed from the MacMillan property in Hennepin 
County, MN. In 2017, two of these human remains were transferred to the 
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council by private citizens and six 
individuals were recovered by the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council 
during the removal of the MacMillan home (H498). No known individuals 
were identified. The six associated funerary objects include one 
Prairie du Chien chert tool, one swan river chert flake, and four 
quartz fragments. (In October 1999, human remains from the MacMillan 
property were repatriated to the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake 
Traverse Reservation, South Dakota following publication of a Notice of 
Inventory Completion in the Federal Register (64 FR 43211-43222, August 
9, 1999).
    In 1882, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from Indian Mounds Park (21RA10) in Ramsey County, MN, by 
Theodore Hayes Lewis. As part of the Northwestern Archaeological 
Survey, Lewis collected artifacts including this human skull with a red 
clay ``death mask'' innesota. Before he left Minnesota, Lewis sold most 
of the collections from this survey to Reverend Edgar Mitchell. In 
1905, Mitchell donated his collections to the Minnesota Historical 
Society, including the artifacts and human remains he received from 
Lewis (Lewis #746). The Minnesota Historical Society implemented a new 
numbering system in 1918, and these human remains were given the 
catalog number 3583.A2664. In 1987, the human remains were transferred 
to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (H319.16). No known individual 
was identified. The three associated funerary objects are one lot of 
loose dirt (possibly from the clay death

[[Page 19984]]

mask), one lot of fabric fragments, and one lot of newspaper.
    Sometime in the 1920s or 1930s, human remains representing, at 
minimum, two individuals were removed from Indian Mounds Park in Popes 
County, MN, by a private citizen who lived near the mounds. In 2017, 
the collector's daughter gave the human remains to the Office of the 
State Archaeologist who, in turn, transferred them to the Minnesota 
Indian Affairs Council (H501). No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Sometime between 1920 and 1935, human remains representing, at 
minimum, one individual were removed from a farm in Browns Valley, 
Traverse County, MN, by a private citizen. On April 12, 2013, the human 
remains were transferred to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council 
(H469). No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Sometime around 1950, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from a farm in Browns Valley, Traverse County, 
MN, by a private citizen. In December of 2018, the University of 
Minnesota received the human remains from the collector's daughter. On 
January 16, 2019, the human remains were transferred to the Minnesota 
Indian Affairs Council (H523). No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, two 
individuals were removed from an unknown site in southern Minnesota and 
turned over to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Sometime 
between 1986 and 1988, these human remains were transferred to the 
Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (H147). No known individuals were 
identified. No known individuals were identified. The two associated 
funerary objects are one wood fragment with a nail and one ceramic 
sherd.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, 
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity 
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures 
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: anthropological, archeological, geographic, historical, 
oral traditional, and other relevant information.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council has determined 
that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 24 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 11 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the 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; 
Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South 
Dakota.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after May 4, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the Minnesota Indian 
Affairs Council must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to 
repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not 
competing requests. The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council is responsible 
for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in 
this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: March 22, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-06919 Filed 4-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P