[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 82 (Thursday, April 30, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19976-19977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9981]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: New York University College of 
Dentistry, New York, NY

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 in the possession of the 
New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY. The human 
remains were removed from Morton County, ND.
    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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by New York 
University College of Dentistry professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of two 
individuals were removed from On-A-Slant Village, Ft. Abraham Lincoln, 
near Bismarck, Morton County, ND, by an unknown collector. In 1925, the 
human remains were accessioned by the Department of Physical 
Anthropology at the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. In 
1956, the human remains were transferred to Dr. Theodore Kazamiroff, 
New York University College of Dentistry. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Museum of the American Indian records identify the provenience of 
the human remains as ``Ft. Abraham Lincoln, near Bismarck, North 
Dakota.'' Fort Abraham Lincoln is also the site of a Historic Period 
Mandan Village known as On-A-Slant Village (32MO26). The cranium of one 
of the individuals is painted with a red pigment matching historically 
described and archeologically confirmed mortuary customs of the Mandan.
    On-A-Slant Village is documented historically, archeologically and 
by tribal oral traditions as a village of the Plains Village Period 
dating to A.D. 1450-1785, and occupied by the Nuitadi

[[Page 19977]]

subgroup of the Mandan. In 1785, the village was abandoned following a 
smallpox epidemic and its inhabitants moved to the Knife River region 
to live alongside the Hidatsa. By 1862, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara 
lived at the Like-A-Fishook village. In 1937, the three tribes became 
formally known as the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation. Consultation evidence supports the identification of the 
human remains from the On-A-Slant Village as Mandan, and the cultural 
affiliation as the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota.
    Officials of the New York University College of Dentistry 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 New York University College of 
Dentistry also 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 the Three 
Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Dr. 
Louis Terracio, New York University College of Dentistry, 345 East 24th 
St, New York, NY 10010, telephone (212) 998-9917, before June 1, 2009. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the 
Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota may proceed after that date if 
no additional claimants come forward.
    The New York University College of Dentistry is responsible for 
notifying the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, 
North Dakota that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 13, 2009.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-9981 Filed 4-29-09; 8:45 am]
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