[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77899-77900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31284]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[2253-665]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Minnesota Indian Affairs Council,
St. Paul and Bemidji, MN
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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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 in the possession of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, St.
Paul and Bemidji, MN. The human remains and associated funerary objects
were removed from Goodhue County, MN.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative
[[Page 77900]]
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.
A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary
objects was made by Minnesota Indian Affairs Council professional staff
in consultation with representatives of the 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; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake
Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota;
and Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota.
In 1968, human remains representing a minimum of six individuals
were removed from the Birch Lake Burial Mound Group, (21GD61), Goodhue
County, MN, during archeological excavations conducted by the
University of Minnesota for the Northern States Power Company. The
University of Minnesota transferred control of the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council per
a transfer agreement dated June 16, 1989. No known individuals were
identified. The two associated funerary objects are a small ceramic
mortuary vessel and a ceramic potsherd.
Based on the material culture and manner of internment, these
individuals have been identified as Native American. According to
records in the Office of the Minnesota State Archaeologist, including a
report by Elden Johnson, the funerary objects and the mound group
pattern indicate a probable Woodland Period temporal affiliation, a
broad archeological classification that cannot be identified with any
present-day Indian Tribe or group.
Officials of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council have determined,
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.
The Native American human remains and associated funerary objects
were removed from the aboriginal land of the 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; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake
Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota;
and Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota (Indian Claims Commission, Land
Claim Map 74). The site is also adjacent to the current Tribal
lands of the Prairie Island Indian Community.
Officials of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council have determined,
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described above
represent the physical remains of six individuals of Native American
ancestry. Officials of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council also have
determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the two objects described
above 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. Lastly, officials of the Minnesota Indian
Affairs Council have determined, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the
disposition of the Native American human remains and associated
funerary objects is to the 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; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation,
South Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; and Upper Sioux
Community, Minnesota.
Representatives of any other Indian Tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the Native American human remains and
associated funerary objects or any other Indian Tribe that believes it
satisfies the criteria in 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1) should contact James L.
Jones, Cultural Resource Specialist, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council,
3801 Bemidji Ave. N., Suite 5, Bemidji, MN 56601, telephone (218) 755-
3223, before January 13, 2011. Disposition of the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the 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; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse
Reservation, South Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; and Upper
Sioux Community, Minnesota, may proceed after that date if no
additional claimants come forward.
The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council is responsible for notifying
the 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; Sisseton-
Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South Dakota; Spirit
Lake Tribe, North Dakota; and Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota, that
this notice has been published.
Dated: December 7, 2010.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-31284 Filed 12-13-10; 8:45 am]
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