Notice of Inventory Completion: Bonanzaville, Cass County Historical Society, West Fargo, ND, 954-955 [2024-00126]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 954-955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00126]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037197; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Bonanzaville, Cass County 
Historical Society, West Fargo, ND

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Bonanzaville, Cass County Historical Society 
(Bonanzaville) has completed an inventory of human remains and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and Indian Tribes in this notice. The human remains were 
removed from unknown locations in either North Dakota or South Dakota.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after February 7, 2024.

ADDRESSES: David Hubin, Curator, Bonanzaville, Cass County Historical 
Society, 1351 Main Avenue West, West Fargo, ND 58078, telephone (701) 
282-2822, email [email protected].

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 
Bonanzaville. 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 Bonanzaville.

Description

    On an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from an unknown location. The human remains, a 
bracelet made of human finger and toe bones, were loaned to the State 
Teachers College in Moorhead, MN, which would later become the Clay 
County Historical Society in Moorhead, MN, by Usher Burdick. It was 
part of a larger collection of Native American items loaned by Burdick 
for display starting in 1930. In 1970, at the request of Quentin 
Burdick (Usher's son), the collection was transferred to the Cass 
County Historical Society, ND, for display in their new Native American 
Museum with full ownership. The finger bone bracelet is mentioned in 
several early inventories, but no other information is given on how 
Usher Burdick received the items. No known individuals were identified. 
No associated funerary objects are present.
    Usher Burdick was a member of the North Dakota State House of 
Representatives from 1907 to 1911 and served as Speaker in 1909. He was 
Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota from 1911 to 1913 and served as 
assistant United States district attorney for North Dakota from 1929 to 
1932. Burdick was a State Representative for North Dakota from 1935 to 
1944 and again from 1949-1959. His service to North Dakota led him to 
many relationships with tribal leaders in North and South Dakota who 
either gave him or sold him Native American items. We can only assume 
that these human remains were given to him in the same manner.
    A physical examination of the human remains by Phoebe Stubblefield, 
Professor of Forensic Anthropology at the University of North Dakota 
and Paul Picha, Chief Anthropologist at the State Historical Society of 
North Dakota revealed some additional clues. They confirmed the bones 
to be human and the bracelet contains a combination of first distal 
phalange from thumbs and first toe and distal phalange from other four 
digits. Stubblefield concluded that the human remains had spent some 
time buried and may have spent some time on a scaffold. Each bone has 
had a precise hole drilled suggesting a modern drill bit. Both 
Stubblefield and Picha estimate the age to be 100-150 years old based 
on native customs and the decomposition of the bones. Based on the 
physical evidence, we could not determine race or tribal affiliation. 
Because of its inclusion in the Native American collection given by 
Burdick and his collecting habits, staff has deduced that the human 
remains are Native American remains from a North Dakota or South Dakota 
Tribe.

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: geographical and historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, Bonanzaville has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice 
and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, 
South Dakota; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, 
South Dakota; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; Lower Brule 
Sioux Tribe of the Lower Brule Reservation, South Dakota; Oglala Sioux 
Tribe; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South 
Dakota; Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, South 
Dakota; Spirit Lake Tribe, North Dakota; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of 
North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota; Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of 
North Dakota; and the Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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.

[[Page 955]]

    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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after February 7, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, Bonanzaville must determine the most 
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint 
repatriation of the human remains are considered a single request and 
not competing requests. Bonanzaville is responsible for sending a copy 
of this notice to the Indian Tribes 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: December 28, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-00126 Filed 1-5-24; 8:45 am]
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