FR Doc E8-6575[Federal Register: March 31, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 62)]
[Notices]
[Page 16907]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31mr08-103]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Wisconsin-Stevens
Point, Stevens Point, WI

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, of the
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects in the possession of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point,
Stevens Point, WI. The human remains and associated funerary objects
were removed from Portage County, WI.
    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 in this notice are the sole responsibility of the
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by University
of Wisconsin-Stevens Point professional staff in consultation with
representatives of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Menominee
Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
    In the late 1950s, human remains were removed from the Bigelow-
Hamilton site (47-Pr-29), Portage County, WI, by George Dixon. Mr.
Dixon subsequently donated the human remains and associated funerary
objects to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. No known
individuals were identified. Most of the human remains and associated
funerary objects were reinterred in 1986 and 1987 at the request of the
Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe, now called the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin.
In 1994, 1995, and 2001, additional human remains representing a
minimum of two individuals and associated funerary objects from the
Bigelow-Hamilton site were discovered in the University of Wisconsin-
Stevens Point collections. The 71 associated funerary objects are 1
fragment of mink or otter fur, 2 textile fragments, 9 shell fragments,
6 stone tools, 48 stone flakes, 3 Madison Plain sherds, and 2 cord-
impressed sherds.
    The Bigelow-Hamilton site consists of mounds, several large village
areas, and a possible storage precinct. Archival research, literature
review, and artifact analysis indicate sequential occupations of the
site from 400 to 200 B.C., A.D. 0 to 200, A.D. 200 to 400, A.D. 500 to
1200, and during the 19th century. The human remains are believed to be
associated with a Menominee sugar camp at the site that was used
between A.D. 1839 and 1840. The Bigelow-Hamilton site is located with
the area ceded by the Menominee to the United States under the Treaty
of September 3, 1836 (7 Stat. 506). Other historic records indicate
that the ancestors of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Menominee
Indian Tribe of Wisconsin occupied the Portage County area during the
1830s and 1840s. The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Menominee Indian
Tribe of Wisconsin have agreed that the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin
will assume repatriation for the human remains and associated funerary
objects from the area of the Bigelow-Hamilton site.
    Officials of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains
described above represent the physical remains of two individuals of
Native American ancestry. Officials of the University of Wisconsin-
Stevens Point also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001
(3)(A), the 71 objects described 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 University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 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 Native American
human remains and associated funerary objects and the Ho-Chunk Nation
of Wisconsin and/or Menominee Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Sharon
Cloud, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI 54481-
3897, telephone (715) 346-3576, before April 30, 2008. Pursuant to 25
U.S.C. 3009 (2), the human remains and associated funerary objects were
repatriated to the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin in 2003 to complete the
repatriation that was pending at the time of NAGPRA's enactment.
    The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is responsible for
notifying the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and Menominee Indian Tribe
of Wisconsin that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 15, 2008.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-6575 Filed 3-28-08; 8:45 am]

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