[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 55 (Wednesday, March 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19873-19874]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-05861]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037607; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Office of the State Archaeologist 
Bioarchaeology Program, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

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 Office of the State Archaeologist 
Bioarchaeology Program (OSA-BP) has completed an inventory of human 
remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between 
the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after April 19, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Lara Noldner, Office of the State Archaeologist 
Bioarchaeology Program, University of Iowa, 700 S Clinton Street, Iowa 
City, IA 52242, telephone (319) 384-0740, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The

[[Page 19874]]

determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the OSA-
BP, and additional information on the determinations in this notice, 
including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or 
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Based on the information available, human remains representing, at 
least, one individual have been reasonably identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present. In 1931, the human remains were removed 
from an unknown location, possibly near Yucatan, Houston County, MN. A 
single rib fragment is believed to be part of a skeleton that was 
discovered during road work near Yucatan, MN, the same year. This grave 
was excavated by two students from Luther College, but a site number 
was not assigned or recorded. The Minnesota Office of the State 
Archaeologist has no record of a site in the general area. The skeleton 
was encased in plaster and kept at the Vesterheim Norwegian American 
Museum in Decorah, IA. At an unknown date, the human remains were 
transferred to Luther College. The skeleton was reburied in the 1970s 
in an unknown location by a student affiliated with Luther College. In 
2001, a rib fragment believed to belong to this set of remains was 
discovered in the Luther College Archaeological Laboratory and was 
transferred to the OSA-BP. An adult of indeterminate age and sex is 
represented by this fragment (BP 1473).

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical 
location and acquisition history of the human remains described in this 
notice.

Determinations

    The OSA-BP has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     There is a reasonable connection between the human remains 
described in this notice and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the 
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe 
of 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); 
Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota; Red Lake 
Band of Chippewa Indians, 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; Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota; and the Yankton 
Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this 
notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this 
notice under 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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after April 19, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the OSA-BP must determine the most 
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint 
repatriation of the human remains are considered a single request and 
not competing requests. The OSA-BP is responsible for sending a copy of 
this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations 
identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: March 11, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-05861 Filed 3-19-24; 8:45 am]
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