FR Doc 05-23870
[Federal Register: December 9, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 236)]
[Notices]               
[Page 73263-73264]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09de05-106]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Hot Springs, 
WY

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 U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Hot Springs, 
WY. The human remains and cultural items were removed from the Fishing 
Bridge area of the park.
    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 within this notice are the sole responsibility of 
the superintendent, Yellowstone National Park.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains and funerary objects was 
made by Yellowstone National Park professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming; Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck 
Indian Reservation, Montana; Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian 
Reservation of Montana; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne 
River Reservation, South Dakota; Coeur D'Alene Tribe of the Coeur 
D'Alene Reservation, Idaho; Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of 
the Flathead Reservation, Montana; Crow Tribe of Montana; Flandreau 
Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Fort Belknap Indian Community of 
the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana; Kiowa Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South 
Dakota; Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the 
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of 
the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the 
Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of 
the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho; Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
    In 1941, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from the Fishing Bridge Peninsula in Park County, WY, 
during a construction project in the tourist cabin development area. 
The individual was identified as a Native American male most likely 35-
45 years old. He was buried in a flexed position with his head pointed 
about 10 degrees to the south of west. Projectile point typology and 
geomorphology suggest that the burial dates to the Late Prehistoric 
period. No known individual was identified. The 105 associated funerary 
objects are 1 antler fragment, 1 chert drill, 1 chert knife, 2 chert 
flakes, 2 dog skulls, 1 granite pounding stone, 1 obsidian flake, 1 
projectile point, and 95 stones of various sizes. Three small 
projectile points, 10 worked scrapers and flakes, and 200-300 stone 
flakes are missing from the originally recovered associated funerary 
objects and are not included here.
    In 1956, human remains representing a minimum of two individuals 
were removed from the Fishing Bridge Campground in Park County, WY, 
during a trench-digging project. One individual was identified as a 
Native American female most likely 40-50 years old. The other partial 
set of remains represents a Native American infant. It is not known 
whether the remains were flexed or in which direction the head of the 
female was oriented. The absence of artifacts precludes relative dating 
of the burial and radiocarbon dating did not occur. However, geomorphic 
analysis from a nearby burial site suggests a Late Prehistoric age. No 
known individuals were identified. The one associated funerary object 
is the fragmentary skeleton of a dog.
    Of those tribes with whom the park consulted, only three stated 
they buried dogs with humans. Two Shoshonean groups, the Shoshone Tribe 
of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes 
of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho, stated their ancestors 
customarily included dogs in burials with humans and that children were 
sometimes buried with women. The Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall 
Reservation of Idaho stated that some of their ancestors were on the 
Yellowstone Plateau as early as what archeologists refer to as the 
Paleoindian period and continued to inhabit it through historic times 
as the Lemhi Shoshone and the Sheepeaters. A Crow

[[Page 73264]]

tribal historian and descendent of the Mountain Crow, a Northwest 
Plains group, stated that families traveled to and inhabited the 
Yellowstone Plateau during the summer. He said that before horses, dogs 
were included in human burials. Archeological evidence places the Crow 
in Wyoming by 1490. However, the short-stature of both adults is 
suggestive of Shoshoneans, rather than groups from the Northwest 
Plains.
    While archeologists debate the arrival of the Shoshoneans into the 
area, some evidence in Idaho and Wyoming suggests Shoshoneans have been 
in the region for as long as 3,000 years and possibly 8,000 years. 
Conservative estimates place them in Wyoming around A.D. 1300 to A.D. 
1400. When fur trapper Osbourne Russell came to what is now Yellowstone 
in the 1830s and 1840s he observed pedestrian Sheepeaters who traveled 
with dogs in contrast with the equestrian Blackfeet he also observed. 
In 1948, Chief Park Naturalist David Condon stated that ``several early 
writings'' identified the Shoshone as frequent visitors to Yellowstone 
Lake. The oral traditions of the Shoshone, the Salish, and the Nez 
Perce indicate that they rendezvoused at Fishing Bridge prior to the 
arrival of Euroamericans. However, there is no archeological evidence 
of Nez Perce burying dogs with humans. A representative from the 
Salish-Pend d'Oreille Culture Committee stated that not enough 
traditional information exists to determine if Salishan speakers buried 
dogs with humans.
    Officials of Yellowstone National Park have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of three individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of Yellowstone National Park also have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 106 objects described 
above are reasonably believed to have been placed with or near the 
human remains at the time of death or later as part of a death rite or 
ceremony. Lastly, officials of Yellowstone National Park have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a 
relationship of shared group identity that can reasonably be traced 
between the Native American human remains and associated funerary 
objects and the Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming 
and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Suzanne Lewis, superintendent, Yellowstone 
National Park, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190, 
telephone (307) 344-2229, before January 9, 2006. Repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Shoshone Tribe of 
the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming and the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of 
the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    Yellowstone National Park is responsible for notifying the Arapahoe 
Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Assiniboine and Sioux 
Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana; Blackfeet Tribe of 
the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe 
of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Coeur D'Alene Tribe of 
the Coeur D'Alene Reservation, Idaho; Confederated Salish & Kootenai 
Tribes of the Flathead Reservation, Montana; Crow Tribe of Montana; 
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Fort Belknap Indian 
Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana; Kiowa Indian 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule 
Reservation, South Dakota; Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho; Northern Cheyenne 
Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala 
Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Rosebud Sioux 
Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Shoshone-Bannock 
Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho; Shoshone Tribe of the 
Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South 
Dakota that this notice has been published.

    Dated: October 31, 2005
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 05-23870 Filed 12-8-05; 8:45 am]

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