[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 181 (Monday, September 19, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58038-58039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23969]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[2253-665]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum
of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of
Natural History have completed an inventory of human remains and
associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate
Indian Tribes, and have determined that there is a cultural affiliation
between the human remains and associated funerary objects and a
present-day Indian Tribe. Representatives of any Indian Tribe that
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains and
associated funerary objects may contact the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum
of Natural History. Repatriation of the human remains and associated
funerary objects to the Indian Tribe stated below may occur if no
additional claimants come forward.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian Tribe that believes it has a
cultural affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
at the address below by October 19, 2011.
ADDRESSES: The Director, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History,
2401 Chautauqua, Norman, OK 73072, telephone (405) 325-8978.
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 in the control of the U.S. Department of
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the
possession of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History,
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK. The human remains and associated
funerary objects were removed from Bryan County, OK.
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
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 Sam
Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History professional staff in
consultation with the Oklahoma State Archeologist and representatives
of the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma also
examined the cultural items, but did not express an interest in being a
part of the NAGPRA consultation.
History and Description of the Remains
In 1941, human remains representing a minimum of one individual
were removed from an unidentified context near a former refuse area at
Fort Washita (Colbert Site, 34Br-6), in Bryan County, OK, by Works
Progress Administration employees. Fort Washita was abandoned by the
War Department after the Civil War. Five years later the land was
turned over to the Chickasaw Nation. The property was subsequently
[[Page 58039]]
allotted to Abbie Davis Colbert and her son, Douglas, in 1906 and 1908.
The Colbert family retained the property until they sold it to the
State of Oklahoma in 1962. The remains and funerary objects were
transferred to the the Stovall Museum of Science and History, now
called the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. No known
individual was identified. The 1,532 associated funerary objects are 33
points, 2 drills, 13 biface fragments, 4 bifaces, 119 flakes, 17 blocky
debris, 1 hammerstone, 2 manos, 1 groundstone fragment, 1 pottery bowl
fragment, 7 undecorated pottery rim sherds, 51 undecorated pottery body
sherds, 2 pottery body sherds, 1 pottery base sherd, 2 pieces of daub,
3 pieces of baked clay, 8 buttons, 2 toothbrush fragments, 1 knife
handle, 1 knife handle fragment, 1 worked animal bone fragment, 397
animal bone fragments, 11 burned animal bone fragments, 2 boar tusks,
35 animal teeth fragments, 2 mussel shell fragments, 30 ceramic rim
sherds, 3 ceramic handle fragments, 3 ceramic handle sherds, 96 ceramic
body sherds, 24 ceramic base sherds, 1 ceramic base fragment, 398
pipestem fragments, 6 burned pipestem fragments, 80 pipe bowl
fragments, 9 burned pipe bowl fragments, 2 pipe fragments, 4 clay
marbles, 16 beads, 11 glass beads, 1 glass ornament, 1 glass stopper, 2
glass stopper fragments, 43 glass bottle fragments, 3 melted glass
fragments, 1 molded glass bottle fragment, 3 iron fork fragments, 1
iron knife fragment with bone handle, 1 iron handle, 1 iron handle
fragment, 1 iron bowl fragment, 2 iron keys, 1 iron hinge, 1 iron gun
hammer, 2 iron gun pieces, 1 fish hook, 12 nails, 1 iron ring, 1 coffee
mill, 1 possible iron file, 1 large iron tack, 4 iron rods, 3
unidentified iron fragments, 1 metal tube, 1 scissors fragment, 1
finial fragment, 1 brass gun ring, 2 brass hinges, 2 water taps, 1
brass buckle, 2 percussion caps, 1 brass fragment, 2 possible copper
fragments, 2 lead musket balls, 1 lead bullet, 1 lead slug, 2 lead
chunks, 1 lead rod, 1 spoon handle, 2 spoon fragments, 2 coins, 1 metal
ornament, 1 piece of plaster or concrete, 2 fossils, 9 rocks, 1 rock
fragment, 1 sandstone fragment, and 1 unidentified stone.
The skeletal remains consist of fragmentary long bones and cannot
be used to conclusively establish cultural affiliation. The physical
relationship of the remains to a particular population group (e.g.,
Native American, European, or African) could not be established.
However, affiliation of the remains can be established with some degree
of confidence through examination of the archeological and historic
context of the remains. This site is adjacent to (or more likely a part
of) the use area of historic Fort Washita, which was established by the
U.S. Government to protect southeastern removal Tribes (e.g., Chickasaw
and Choctaw) from depredations by whites (principally from Texas) and
Plains Indian groups (such as the Apache and Comanche). Many Chickasaw
congregated around Fort Washita for protection as well as for the
economic goods available there. Thus, the resident community of Fort
Washita consisted of white soldiers; individuals related to post
personnel; traders who operated outside the post; Native Americans
(mostly Chickasaws) who settled around the post; and blacks who were
slaves of the more affluent Chickasaws. Although the records do not
specifically address the presence of human remains from the excavation,
the long bones were found in physical association with the other
materials from 34Br6. The materials recovered from 34Br6 are those that
would be typically associated with refuse disposal, and this refuse
area can be identified as principally Native American in origin
(probably Chickasaw). This is due to an absence of military hardware
and the presence of aboriginal historic ceramics and glass beads
although European goods are also abundant within the midden. These
facts indicate that the individual from the burial is most likely a
person of Chickasaw cultural affiliation.
Determinations Made by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian
Affairs and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History
Officials of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian
Affairs and Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History have
determined that:
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described
above represent the physical remains of one individual of Native
American ancestry.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 1,532 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.
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
Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any other Indian Tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact the Director, Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of
Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua, Norman, OK 73072, telephone (405)
325-8978, before October 19, 2011. Repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects to the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma, may
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is responsible for
notifying the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma, that this notice has been
published.
Dated: September 14, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-23969 Filed 9-16-11; 8:45 am]
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