[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 189 (Friday, September 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59647-59648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23921]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11201; 2200-1100-665]
Notice of Inventory Completion: California Department of Parks
and Recreation, Sacramento, CA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The California Department of Parks and Recreation has
completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human
remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes.
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects may contact the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
Repatriation of the human remains to the Indian tribes 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 California Department of Parks and
Recreation at the address below by October 29, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Patrick C. Riordan, NAGPRA Coordinator, California
Department of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street Room 902,
Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 375-5916.
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 possession of the California
Department of Parks and Recreation. The human remains are believed to
have been removed from the massacre site at Wounded Knee in Shannon
County, SD.
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. The National Park Service is not responsible
for the determinations in this notice.
Consultation
A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary
objects was made by the California Department of Parks and Recreation
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribes of the Cheyenne River Reservation of South Dakota;
Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota; and
the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota (hereafter
referred to as ``The Tribes'').
History and Description of the Remains
In December of 1890, human remains representing, at minimum, two
individuals were removed by an unknown person from the massacre site at
Wounded Knee in Shannon County, SD. The human remains consist of two
hanks of hair. At an unknown date, the remains were acquired by the
California Department of Parks and Recreation, and these remains were
included in a 1968 inventory for the Estudillo House at Old Town San
Diego State Historic Park, along with other objects from Oxnard, CA. In
1988, the collection was transferred to the California Department of
Parks and Recreation Statewide Museum Resources Center in West
Sacramento and was housed with other human remains in the Department's
NAGPRA Collections storage area. No known individuals were identified.
The two associated funerary objects are bandanas wrapped around each of
the two clusters of hair.
The Wounded Knee Massacre was the last major armed conflict between
Indians and whites in the United States. The confrontation occurred on
December 29, 1890, after the U.S. Army moved a group of approximately
340 Indians under the leadership of Sitanka (Big Foot) from their camp
on the Cheyenne River at the Cheyenne River Agency to Wounded Knee
Creek, approximately 20 miles from Pine Ridge Agency. Besides members
of Sitanka's band from the Cheyenne River Agency,
[[Page 59648]]
members of Sitting Bull's band from the Standing Rock Agency, and
possibly a few Oglala from the Pine Ridge Agency, were present.
Fighting began when the soldiers attempted to disarm the surrounded
Sioux. Reportedly, one of the Sioux fired a shot and the soldiers began
firing, indiscriminately killing women and children along with Sioux
warriors. Estimates of the number of Sioux killed were as high as 300.
About 39 U.S. soldiers were killed.
The human remains and associated funerary objects date from the
Wounded Knee Massacre, on December 29, 1890. The geographical location
is consistent with the occupation of the site by the historical bands
of Sioux Indians. The associated funerary objects are consistent with
the period when this region would have been occupied by the historical
bands of Sioux Indians. Based upon the extant information about the
acquisition of this collection by the California Department of Parks
and Recreation and the historical events leading to the massacre at
Wounded Knee, the California Department of Parks and Recreation
Committee on Repatriation determined that there is a relationship of
shared group identity which can be reasonably traced between these
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and The
Tribes.
Determinations Made by the California Department of Parks and
Recreation
Officials of the California Department of Parks and Recreation have
determined that:
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described
in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of
Native American ancestry.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the two funerary 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 Tribes.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Patrick C. Riordan, NAGPRA Coordinator,
California Department of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street, Room
902, Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 375-5916 before October 29,
2012. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
to The Tribes may proceed after that date if no additional claimants
come forward.
The California Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible
for notifying The Tribes that this notice has been published.
Dated: August 31, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-23921 Filed 9-27-12; 8:45 am]
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