[Federal Register: March 14, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 50)]
[Notices]
[Page 12373-12374]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14mr03-68]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Justice,
United States Marshals Service, Western District of Oklahoma, Oklahoma
City, OK
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), 25 U.S.C. 3003, Sec. 5, of
the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of Justice, United
States Marshals Service, Western District of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City,
OK. These human remains and associated funerary objects were removed
from Greer County, OK.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003, Sec. 5
(d)(3). The determinations within this notice are the sole
responsibility of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has
control of these Native American human remains and associated funerary
objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations within this notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by United
States Marshals Service professional staff in consultation with
representatives of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Caddo Indian Tribe of
Oklahoma; Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation,
Oklahoma; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Quapaw
Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita,
Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma. Representatives of the Oklahoma
Archeological Survey; Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History; and
U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs were also
consulted.
At an unspecified date, human remains representing a minimum of one
individual were collected from a specific site in or around Greer
County, OK. On June 30, 2001, the human remains were seized by the
United States Marshals Service as part of an asset forfeiture from a
private residence in Greer County, OK. No known individual was
identified. The one associated funerary object is an olivella shell
bead.
Based on the general condition of the human remains and the lack of
historic period artifacts in the collection that was seized, it is
believed that these human remains and associated funerary object were
originally interred between 3000 B.C. and A.D. 1500. Archeological
evidence indicates that during the period from 3000 B.C. to A.D. 1500,
the area including present-day Greer County, OK, was occupied by
semisedentary horticulturalists believed to be the ancestors of members
of the present-day Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco
& Tawakonie), Oklahoma.
Other items seized as part of the asset forfeiture, including
beads, grinding stones, flake tools, scrapers, and arrowheads, do not
appear to meet the statutory definition of ``associated funerary
objects.'' Officials of the United States Marshals Service have
determined, pursuant to standard practice regarding personal property,
as set forth in 28 CFR 0.111 (i) and the Attorney General's Guidelines
on Seized and Forfeited Property (July 1990), that these items are
subject to transfer to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Indian Affairs.
Officials of the United States Marshals Service have determined
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec. 2 (9-10), the human remains
listed above represent the physical remains of one individual of Native
American ancestry. Officials of the United States Marshals Service also
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec. 2 (3)(A), the
one object listed above is 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 United States
Marshals Service have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec.
2 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be
[[Page 12374]]
reasonably traced between these Native American human remains and
associated funerary object and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
(Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated
funerary object should contact Mr. John Laster, Deputy U.S. Marshal,
United States Marshals Service, 200 NW 4th Street, 2nd Floor, Oklahoma
City, OK, 73102, telephone (405) 231-4206, before April 14, 2003.
Repatriation of these human remains and associated funerary object to
the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie),
Oklahoma may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come
forward.
The United States Marshals Service is responsible for notifying the
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Cheyenne-
Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma; Choctaw Nation
of Oklahama; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Quapaw Tribe of Indians,
Oklahoma; and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco &
Tawakonie), Oklahoma that this notice has been published.
Dated: January 28, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 03-6214 Filed 3-13-03; 8:45 am]
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