Federal Register / Vol. 60 No. 175 / Monday, September 11, 1995 /
Notices Page 47181
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion of Native American Human Remains
in the Possession of the Utah Field House of Natural History
State Park, Vernal UT
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior
ACTION: Notice
_________________________________________________________________
Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C.
3003(d), of the completion of an inventory of human remains in
the possession of the Utah Field House of Natural History State
Park, Vernal UT.
In May, 1953, a Ms. Wadel (or Wadell) donated a single cranium to
the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park. Writing on
the occipital vault reads: "skull of Sioux Chief Gall. Age 99
years and 7 months. Died 1879 at Poplar, Montana, then the Ft.
Peck Military Post. He surrendered to General Miles."
A detailed inventory and assessment of this human cranium has
been made by Utah Field House professional curatorial staff and
specialists in physical anthropology, forensic anthropology, and
prehistoric archaeology in consultation with the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribal Council. Osteometric and forensic analyses by Dr.
George Gill and Dr. Michael Charney established that the cranium
is siouan in configuration. Many of the details written on the
skull are at variance with generally acknowledged dates and
locations of Chief Gall's life. However, a photographic
superimposition of the skull with known photographs of Hunkpapa
Chief Gall reveals a striking similarity in form.
Contact with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council and the
family of Gall's descendants was initiated in June 1991. On
October 4, 1991, a grave located in the St. Elizabeth Episcopal
Cemetery, on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Reservation and said
to be the burial site of Chief Gall was exhumed. Family members,
a mortician, a doctor, and the South Dakota State Anthropologist,
witnessed the excavation. The grave appeared to have not been
previously disturbed. A shattered cranium in the grave yielded
no corroborating measurements. The lineal descendants of Chief
Gall are satisfied that the remains in the grave are of their
ancestor.
The Standing Rock Tribal Council acknowledges the lineal
descendants decision on the identity of the cranium. Following
the decision by Gall's lineal descendants, broader consultation
was initiated with the Fort Belknap Community Council, the
Prairie Island Community Council, the Shakopee Sioux Community
Council, the Upper Sioux Board of Trustees, the Lower Sioux
Indian Community Council, the Flandreau Santee Sioux Executive
Committee, the Santee Sioux Tribal Council, the Sisseton-Wahpeton
Sioux Tribal Council, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribal Council, the
Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal
Council, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, the Devils Lake Sioux Tribe, the
Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board, the Crow Creek Sioux Tribal
Council, and the Yankton Sioux Tribal Business and Claims.
Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the Utah
Field House of Natural History State Park have determined
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. (2) that there is a relationship of shared
group identity which can be reasonably traced between this
cranium and the Standing Rock Tribe.
This notice has been sent to lineal descendants of Chief Gall and
to officials of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council, the Fort
Belknap Community Council, the Prairie Island Community Council,
the Shakopee Sioux Community Council, the Upper Sioux Board of
Trustees, the Lower Sioux Indian Community Council, the Flandreau
Santee Sioux Executive Committee, the Santee Sioux Tribal
Council, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribal Council, the Lower
Brule Sioux Tribal Council, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council, the
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, the
Devils Lake Sioux Tribe, the Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board,
the Crow Creek Sioux Tribal Council, and the Yankton Sioux Tribal
Business and Claims Committee. Individuals or representatives of
any other indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally
affiliated with these human remains should contact Dr. Sue Ann
Bilbey, Curator, Utah Field House of Natural History State Park,
235 East Main, Vernal UT 84078, telephone (801)789-3799 on or
before October 11, 1995. Repatriation of the cranium to the
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe may begin after that date if no
additional claimants come forward.
Dated: September 1, 1995
Francis P. McManamon
Departmental Consulting Archeologist
Chief, Archeological Assistance Division
[FR Doc. 95-22375; Filed 09-8-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F
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