[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 176 (Monday, September 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49504-49505]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23770]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects from Custer County, SD in the 
Possession of the South Dakota State Archaeological Research Center, 
Rapid City, SD

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects from Custer County, SD in the possession of the South 
Dakota State Archaeological Research Center, Rapid City, SD.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by South Dakota 
State Archaeological Research Center (SARC) professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the 
Fort Berthold Reservation and the Pawnee Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.
    Between 1935 and 1950, human remains representing three individuals 
were recovered from the Phelps site (39CU206) located on the left bank 
of Battle Creek, Custer County, SD by Mrs. Phelps, the private 
landowner of the site. No known individuals were identified. The seven 
associated funerary objects include one unidentifiable mammal rib, two 
cedar fragments, one limestone bead, charcoal, one stone biface, and 
one stone uniface.
    Based on the associated funerary objects and the manner of 
interment, these individuals have been identified as Native American. 
The associated funerary objects, manner of interment, and the remainder 
of the artifact assemblage from the site, including side-notched 
projectile points, freshwater shells, large bifaces, and ceramics, 
indicate the burials date to the Upper Republican Aspect of the Central 
Plains Tradition (1000-1500 A.D.).
    Based on continuities of material culture, architecture, skeletal 
morphology, oral tradition, and historical evidence, the cultural 
affiliation of the Phelps site and the individuals listed above can be 
affiliated with the Arikara. In 1870, the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara 
tribes were moved to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North 
Dakota and are now known as the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort 
Berthold Reservation.

[[Page 49505]]

    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the South 
Dakota State Archaeological Research Center have determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above 
represent the physical remains of three individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the South Dakota State Archaeological Research 
Center have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), the 
seven objects listed 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 South 
Dakota State Archaeological Research Center have determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), 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 Three Affiliated 
Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Three Affiliated 
Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation and the Pawnee Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes 
itself to be culturally affiliated with these human remains and 
associated funerary objects should contact Renee Boen, Curator, State 
Archaeological Center, South Dakota Historical Society, P.O. Box 1257, 
Rapid City, SD 57709-1257; telephone: (605) 394-1936, before October 
13, 1999. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation 
may begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
Dated: August 23, 1999.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 99-23770 Filed 9-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F