[Federal Register: December 10, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 237)]
[Notices]
[Page 68949-68950]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10de03-113]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: U.S. Department
of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco, CA
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), 43 CFR 10.8 (f), of the
intent to repatriate a cultural item in the possession of the U.S.
Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco,
CA, that meets the definition of sacred object under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
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 within this notice are the sole responsibility of
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the
cultural item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations within this notice.
The cultural item is a braided scalp with a decorative covering of
red wool and contrasting blue wool cross.
In 1876, Corporal William O. Taylor acquired the scalp under
unknown circumstances while serving as a member of General George A.
Custer's Sioux Expedition. The scalp was subsequently acquired by Mr.
Alexander Acevedo. On April 4, 1995, Butterfield and Butterfield
Auction House, San Francisco, CA, held a sale of items under Mr.
Acevedo's control. The estimated sale price of the scalp was listed in
the auction catalog as between $3,000 and $4,000. On May 5, 1995, the
scalp was sold to Ripley's Entertainment, Orlando, FL, for $7,150.
Accompanying the scalp in the auction catalog was a pipe tomahawk,
also acquired by Corporal Taylor in 1876. A faded label attached to the
pipe tomahawk reads, ``A Black Hills Indian Tomahawk and Pipe/Captured
by ... he was ... killed ... and scalped the ... 35 years ... August
19, 1876.'' The auction catalog listed the battle of Slim Buttes as the
source of the pipe tomahawk. It is believed that Corporal Taylor
acquired the scalp and the pipe tomahawk after the battle of Slim
Buttes. The pipe tomahawk is not considered to be subject to
repatriation under NAGPRA.
On April 3, 1996, at the request of the United States Attorney's
Office for the Northern District of California, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, San Francisco, CA, began an investigation into the
trafficking of Native American scalps by Butterfield and Butterfield
Auction House. On July 19, 1996, Ripley's Entertainment released
custody of the scalp to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. The
scalp was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Laboratory
Division, Hair and Fiber Section, Washington, DC, for examination.
Based on morphological characteristics, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation determined that the hair on the scalp exhibits mongoloid
characteristics, a classification that encompasses Native American
hair.
Historic records indicate that the battle of Slim Buttes occurred
on September 9-10, 1876, when forces led by Captain Anson Mills
encountered a village of about 37 Minniconjou lodges. The battle was
soon joined by warriors from nearby Sans Arc, Brule, and Cheyenne
camps. Lakota oral tradition indicates that all of the tribal
participants in the battle of Slim Buttes belonged to the Mnikoju
(Minniconjou) and Itazipco (Sans Arc) bands. Descendants of the Mnikoju
(Minniconjou) and Itazipco (Sans Arc) bands that participated in the
battle of Slim Buttes are included in the present-day Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota.
In 1994, representatives of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe
of South Dakota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation,
South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation,
South Dakota; and Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of
Nebraska signed a memorandum of agreement that authorized
representatives of any of the signatory tribes to speak on behalf of
all five Indian tribes.
In 2002, a representative of the signatory tribes reviewed the
information pertaining to the scalp and concluded that the scalp was a
war trophy taken by one of the Mnikoju (Minniconjou) or Itazipco (Sans
Arc) warriors from one of their traditional enemies, possibly the
Arikara, Pawnee, or Crow. The representative of the signatory tribes
identified the scalp as innately sacred. Among the Lakota, scalping is
a way of showing contempt for an enemy's prowess in war. The
Iwa'kiciwacipi, or scalp dance, was performed to punish the individual
from whom the scalp was taken. Another ceremony must be performed after
a period of time in order to release the captured spirit of the
individual from whom the scalp was taken. The representative of the
signatory tribes has requested that the scalp be returned in order to
perform the spirit-releasing ceremony. The representative of the
signatory tribes also indicated that the signatory tribes do not intend
to preclude repatriation of the scalp to any other federally recognized
Indian tribe. The signatory tribes will immediately withdraw their
request at any time that any federally recognized Indian tribe submits
a competing claim to repatriate the scalp.
Officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco,
CA, have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C.
[[Page 68950]]
3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent the physical
remains of one individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco, CA, also have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is insufficient
evidence to reasonably trace a shared group identity between the human
remains and an Indian tribe. Officials of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, San Francisco, CA, also have determined that, pursuant
to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the cultural item is a specific ceremonial
object needed by traditional Native American religious leaders for the
practice of traditional Native American religions by their present-day
adherents. Finally, officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
San Francisco, CA, have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001
(2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be
reasonably traced between the sacred object and the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Flandreau
Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Sioux Indian Community in the
State of Minnesota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation,
South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation,
South Dakota; and Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of
Nebraska.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the sacred object should contact Special
Agent Brian J. Guy, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 450 Golden Gate
Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, telephone (415) 553-7400, before
January 9, 2004. Repatriation of the sacred object to the Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota;
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Sioux Indian
Community in the State of Minnesota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud
Indian Reservation, South Dakota; and Santee Sioux Tribe of the Santee
Reservation of Nebraska may proceed after that date if no additional
claimants come forward.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, San Francisco, CA, is
responsible for notifying the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Tribe of Montana;
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Sioux Indian
Community in the State of Minnesota; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Rosebud
Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Santee
Sioux Tribe of the Santee Reservation of Nebraska; Standing Rock Sioux
Tribe of North & South Dakota; and Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort
Berthold Reservation, North Dakota that this notice has been published.
Dated: November 5, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-30569 Filed 12-9-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-50-S