2023-06911. Notice of Inventory Completion: Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, St. Paul, MN

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Pipestone County, MN.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after May 4, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Dylan Goetsch, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, 161 St. Anthony Avenue, Suite 919, St. Paul, MN 55103, email [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council.

Description

Around 1900, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were removed by Charles Bennet while excavating a mound at the base of the Leaping Rock Site in the Pipestone National Monument in Pipestone County, MN. Subsequently, these human remains were donated to the Pipestone County Historical Society. The human remains were attached to a board that bore the inscription “Fragments of skeletal bones and clothing of body from a grave of a distinguished son of a Dakota (Sioux) Chief who was killed in 1834 in attempting to leap from the Pipestone Cliffs to the Maitou [[sic]] or Leaping Rock. (See account in Catlin's North American Indians.).” On July 10th, 1990, the human remains were transferred to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (H178). No known individuals were identified. The three associated funerary objects are one woven fabric piece with green patina and two small, brown felt pieces.

Cultural Affiliation

The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological, archeological, geographical, historical, oral traditional, and other relevant information.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The three objects described in this notice 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.
• There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES . Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:

1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.

2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after May 4, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing requests. The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, and 10.14.

Dated: March 22, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.