Notice2025-23362
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands, Bismarck, ND
Primary source
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Published
December 19, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59567-59568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23362]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6819; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041640; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands, Bismarck, 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), the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Dakota Prairie Grasslands has completed an inventory of human
remains and associated funerary objects and has 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.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after January 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Bethany A. Ihle,
Dakota Prairie Grasslands, 2000 Miriam Circle, Bismarck, ND 58501,
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b9dbdccdd1d8d7c097d0d1d5dcf9cccaddd897ded6cf"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="680a0d1c00090611460100040d281d1b0c09460f071e">[email protected]</span></a>.
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
Dakota Prairie Grasslands, and additional information on the
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation,
can be found in its inventory or related records. The National Park
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing at least one individual have been
identified. The 877 associated funerary objects are flaking debris,
stone tool fragments, utilized flakes, pottery sherds, bison and/or
deer bone fragments, cores, a projectile point, and projectile point
fragments.
[[Page 59568]]
In 1984, one human vertebra and another possible human vertebra
fragment were removed from site 32MZ173 during evaluative test
excavations for a proposed well pad and access road in McKenzie County,
ND. The associated funerary objects were recovered from the same test
unit and nearby test units and curated all together at the North Dakota
Heritage Center. The site was determined eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places, and as a result, the proposed well pad and
access road were not constructed. A later review of the collection was
done by the Dakota Prairie Grasslands, resulting in deaccessioning of
the collection and initiation of tribal consultation. No known
hazardous substances were used to treat the human remains or funerary
items.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains and associated
funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The Dakota Prairie Grasslands has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of at least one individual of Native American
ancestry.
<bullet> The 877 objects described in this notice are reasonably
believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual
human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite
or ceremony.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation,
Montana and the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold
Reservation, North Dakota.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
authorized representative identified in this notice under 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January
20, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the
Dakota Prairie Grasslands 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 Dakota Prairie Grasslands is
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and
Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and any other
consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: December 11, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23362 Filed 12-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 19, 2025.
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