[Federal Register: October 28, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 208)]
[Notices]               
[Page 57706-57707]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28oc98-103]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

 
Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
from Sioux County, NE in the Possession of the Nebraska State 
Historical Society, Lincoln, NE

AGENCY: National Park Service, DOI.

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 Nebraska in the possession of the Nebraska State 
Historical Society, Lincoln, NE.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Nebraska 
State Historical Society professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and the 
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.
    In 1961 and 1981, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were recovered from site 25SX131 in Sioux County, NE during 
investigations conducted on private land by archaeologists for the 
Nebraska State Historical Society. No known individual was identified. 
No associated funerary objects are present.
    Based on U.S. Army records and maps, as well as Indian Agency 
official accounts, site 25SX131 in Sioux County, NE has been identified 
as the site of the final battle between the Cheyenne and the U.S. Army 
on January 22, 1879 following Chief Dull Knife's escape from Ft. 
Robinson. According to historical records, the ``Cheyenne killed in the 
final action, on January 22, 1879, were apparently buried on the spot 
in their

[[Page 57707]]

defensive pit * * *'' According to historical accounts, the U.S. Army 
removed human remains from this site in 1880. In 1961, a group of three 
private individuals located what they felt was the site of the last 
battle between Dull Knife's people and the troops from Fort Robinson 
and presented their findings to Roger T. Grange, an archaeologist for 
the Nebraska State Historical Society. The location is entirely 
consistent with archival U.S. Army records. Grange examined the site 
that same year (1961) and collected materials from the surface and dug 
one test pit, yielding twenty human bone fragments. In 1981, Society 
staff again examined the site and located one human bone fragment on 
the surface.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the Nebraska 
State Historical Society have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical remains 
of a minimum of one individual of Native American ancestry. Officials 
of the Nebraska State Historical Society have also 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 the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and the 
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Cheyenne-Arapaho 
Tribes of Oklahoma and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation. Representatives of any other Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these human 
remains should contact Rob Bozell, Associate Director, Nebraska State 
Historical Society, 1500 R Street, P.O. Box 82554, Lincoln, NE 68501-
2554; telephone: (402) 471-4789, before November 27, 1998. Repatriation 
of the human remains to the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma and the 
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation may 
begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
Dated: October 8, 1998.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 98-28809 Filed 10-27-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F