[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 32 (Thursday, February 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8219-8220]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03407]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20115; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review
Committee; Findings and Recommendations Regarding Human Remains and
Associated Funerary Objects for The Osage Nation
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Findings and recommendations.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service is publishing this notice as part of
its administrative responsibilities pursuant to the Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA or the Act). The
recommendations, findings, and actions in this notice are advisory only
and are not binding on any person. The Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Review Committee (Review Committee) found
that certain human remains and associated items are culturally
affiliated with The Osage Nation and that the State of Missouri
Department of Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Office
should determine the most appropriate claimant--The Osage Nation or the
Indian tribes comprising the Sac and Fox NAGPRA Confederacy--using the
criteria under section 7(a)(4) of the Act.
ADDRESSES: The Review Committee meeting transcript containing the
proceedings and Review Committee deliberation and findings are
available online at www.nps.gov/nagpra/Review or from the National
NAGPRA Program upon request ([email protected]).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The recommendations, findings, and actions
of the Review Committee are advisory only and not binding on any
person. These advisory findings and recommendations do not necessarily
represent the views of the National Park Service or Secretary of the
Interior. The National Park Service and the Secretary of the Interior
have not taken a position on these matters.
The Review Committee was established by Section 8 of the Act, and
is an advisory body governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act. At
its November 18, 2015, public meeting in Norman, OK, the Review
Committee heard a request from The Osage Nation as an affected party.
The issues before the Review Committee were (1) whether the human
remains and associated items from the Clarksville Mound Group (site
23PI6) are culturally affiliated with The Osage Nation; and (2) whether
the
[[Page 8220]]
appropriate disposition of the human remains and associated items from
the Clarksville Mound Group (site 23PI6) is to The Osage Nation or the
Indian tribes comprising the Sac and Fox NAGPRA Confederacy.
Between 1962 and 1996, human remains representing, at minimum, 29
individuals were removed from the Clarksville Mound Group (site 23PI6)
in Pike County, MO. The Clarksville Mound Group was originally recorded
in 1952, and described as a group of six mounds. In 1962, the site was
bulldozed in order to develop a sky-ride and tourist attraction, and
five of the six mounds were destroyed. In 1995 and 1996, the City of
Clarksville, the owner of the site, contacted the Missouri Department
of Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) for
assistance after terminating the lease to the tourist attraction. Human
remains were eroding out of the damaged mound, and due to the severity
of the erosion problem, the SHPO and the City of Clarksville decided to
undertake excavations to remove the threatened burials. The excavations
were expanded as more burials were discovered. During the excavations,
human remains representing, at minimum, 22 individuals were removed
from the site. The two associated funerary objects are one lot of
ancalusa shell beads and one Scallorn point. In 2002, additional human
remains representing, at minimum, four individuals were transferred to
the SHPO by a local collector who had been on the site in 1962. In
2006, additional human remains from the site representing, at minimum,
three individuals were transferred to the SHPO by the University of
Missouri-Columbia.
On February 21, 2013, the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma, the Sac &
Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, and the Sac & Fox Nation of the
Missouri in Kansas, through the Sac and Fox NAGPRA Confederacy,
submitted a request for repatriation of all the human remains and
associated funerary objects from the Clarksville Mound Group (site
23PI6), citing a relationship of shared group identity (cultural
affiliation). On July 30, 2013, the SHPO published a Notice of
Inventory Completion in the Federal Register (78 FR 45960-45961) for
the human remains and associated funerary objects from the Clarksville
Mound Group (site 23PI6) in which it determined that a shared group
identity could be reasonably traced between the human remains and the
Sac & Fox Nation, Oklahoma; Sac & Fox of Missouri in Kansas and
Nebraska; and the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa. On August
29, 2013, The Osage Nation timely submitted a written request for
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary
objects removed from the Clarksville Mound Group (site 23PI6).
Supporting materials submitted by The Osage Nation asserted that (1)
the individuals interred at the Clarksville Mound site dated to the
Late Woodland and Emergent Mississippian Period (A.D. 900-1000); (2)
this period corresponds to the prehistoric occupation of Missouri by
the ancestral Osage; and (3) in accordance with 43 CFR 10.2(e)(1) and
10.14(c), multiple lines of evidence support a cultural affiliation
between the prehistoric inhabitants of the Clarksville Mound site and
the current people of The Osage Nation. As of July 15, 2015, the SHPO
had not made a decision regarding The Osage Nation's request.
In August 2015, The Osage Nation requested that the Review
Committee make a finding of fact regarding the human remains and
associated funerary objects removed from Clarksville Mound Group (site
23PI6) in Pike County, MO. The Designated Federal Officer for the
Review Committee agreed to the request.
At its November 18, 2015 meeting, the Review Committee considered
the request. The issues before the Review Committee were (1) whether
the human remains and associated items from the Clarksville Mound Group
(site 23PI6) are culturally affiliated with The Osage Nation; and (2)
whether the appropriate disposition of human remains and associated
items from the Clarksville Mound Group (site 23PI6) is to The Osage
Nation or the Indian tribes comprising the Sac and Fox NAGPRA
Confederacy.
Findings of Fact: All six Review Committee members currently
appointed by the Secretary of the Interior participated in the fact
finding. By a vote of five to zero (the chair did not vote), the Review
Committee found that with regard to issue (1), the human remains and
associated items from the Clarksville Mound Group (Site 23PI6) are
culturally affiliated with The Osage Nation. Regarding issue (2), by a
vote of five to zero (the chair did not vote), the Review Committee
``strongly recommends that the [State of Missouri Department of Natural
Resources, State Historic Preservation Officer], pursuant to the NAGPRA
regulations, determine the most appropriate claimant in this case
within the next six months, in consultation with The Osage Nation and
the Sac and Fox NAGPRA Confederacy. If the [State of Missouri
Department of Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Officer],
cannot make such a determination within six months, the Review
Committee requests that the [State of Missouri Department of Natural
Resources, State Historic Preservation Officer,] notify the Review
Committee of the barrier to doing so.''
Dated: January 13, 2016.
Armand Minthorn,
Chair, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review
Committee.
[FR Doc. 2016-03407 Filed 2-17-16; 8:45 am]
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