North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 40 - Historical Board › Article 40-02 - Archaeology and Historic Preservation › Chapter 40-02-03 - Protection of Prehistoric and Historic Human Burial Sites, Human Remains, and Burial Goods › Section 40-02-03-05 - Inadvertent disinterment - Restoration or reinterment

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
Whether or not the society intends to study
				  a disturbed Indian burial site and its contents, the director
				  shall provide timely notification of the disturbed burial to
				  the duly designated representative of the intertribal
				  reinterment committee. Within a period of twenty-four hours,
				  or as soon thereafter as practicable, from the time of receipt
				  of such notification, the representative shall make an
				  inspection of the burial site. The representative shall then
				  make a determination as to whether the burial can be
				  adequately and safely restored and protected in situ or, in
				  the alternative, the contents of the burial should be
				  disinterred completely and reinterred in another location.
				  Archaeological testing of a disturbed human burial site to
				  determine its spatial limits and integrity is an acceptable
				  activity under this section to reach such determination
				  regarding restoration in place or disinterment of human
				  remains and burial goods. Prior to the restoration or
				  disinterment of the burial, the intertribal reinterment
				  committee shall attempt to determine the tribal identity or
				  affiliation of the human remains and any burial goods interred
				  in the burial site.
If it is determined that the disturbed
				  burial can be adequately and safely restored and protected in
				  situ and any requisite consent of the private landowner has
				  been secured, the intertribal reinterment committee shall, as
				  soon as practicable and subsequent to the completion of any
				  study conducted on the contents of the burial at the direction
				  of the society, cause the burial to be backfilled, stabilized,
				  and protected from further disturbance by the human activities
				  or natural processes which caused the disturbance in the first
				  instance.
If, on the other hand, it is determined that
				  the in situ restoration of the burial is not feasible and any
				  requisite consent of the private landowner has been secured,
				  the intertribal reinterment committee shall, as soon as
				  practicable and subsequent to the completion of any study
				  conducted on the contents of the burial at the direction of
				  the society, cause the disinterred human remains and any and
				  all burial goods to be reinterred on Indian lands within the
				  boundaries of the appropriate Indian reservation, as
				  determined by the intertribal reinterment committee.
Each such restoration and reinterment shall
				  provide an opportunity for appropriate tribal religious
				  ceremony or ceremonies. The expenses inherent in each such
				  restoration and reinterment activity must be exclusively and
				  fully incurred by the appropriate tribal government, as
				  determined by the intertribal reinterment committee.
The disinterment of the contents of a burial
				  must be conducted under the supervision of a qualified
				  archaeologist in accordance with the procedures inherent in a
				  standard archaeological and contextual analysis within the
				  applicable scope of study as defined in section 40-02-03-01.
General Authority: NDCC 28-32-02
Law Implemented: NDCC 23-06-27