2023-02059. Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Omaha, NE, and the University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology, Knoxville, TN

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, and the University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology, have completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and have 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 Buffalo County, SD.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after March 3, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Ms. Sandra Barnum, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, ATTN: CENWO-PMA-C, 1616 Capitol Avenue, Omaha, NE 68102, telephone [phone], email [e-mail] and Dr. Robert Hinde, University of Tennessee, Office of the Provost, 527 Andy Holt Tower, Knoxville, TN 37996-0152, telephone [phone], email [e-mail] and [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 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District. 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 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District.

Description

Human remains representing, at minimum, five individuals were removed from Buffalo County, SD. The human remains were recovered in 1961 from Sitting Crow Mounds (39BF225), a Woodland and Historic site, likely by Robert Neuman of the Smithsonian's River Basin Survey. No known individuals were identified. The one associated funerary object is one lot of faunal remains.

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, and expert opinion.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of five individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The one object described in this notice 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.
• 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 Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, 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 March 3, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, 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 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, 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: January 25, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.