Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 28079-28080 [2011-11866]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28079-28080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11866]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Arizona State 
Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Arizona State 
Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, that meet the definitions of 
unassociated funerary objects, or sacred objects, or sacred objects and 
objects of cultural patrimony under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    The 95 unassociated funerary objects are 1 sack filled with bunts 
(wheat smut), 1 sack with a worked stick object, 2 wooden awls, 89 
glass beads, 1 lot of blue pigment, and 1 stick pin. The five sacred 
objects are one clay figurine, one painted stone fetish, and three 
quartz crystals. The 36 objects that are both sacred and cultural 
patrimony are 4 eagle feathers, 1 stone purifying bowl, 3 medicine 
man's baskets, 1 medicine basket lid, 4 medicine man's basket 
fragments, 1 animal bone, 2 carved animal effigies, 1 carved human 
effigy, 1 feather, 1 wooden stick with feather, 1 wooden stick, 1 lot 
of animal hair, 1 bag of sand, 1 lump of earth, 2 animal tails, 1 
bundle of sticks, 2 carved wooden symbols, 1 animal skin, 1 lot of 
botanical material, 2 reed wands, 3 gourd rattle fragments, and 1 
worked plant stalk.
    In April 1932, a metal stick pin was collected by an unknown 
individual from a grave reported to be that of a Papago medicine man. 
The grave was located near Santa Rosa, AZ. The object was donated to 
the Arizona State Museum on an unknown date by Dr. Byron Cummings. It 
is likely that the object was found on the ground surface adjacent to 
the grave and there is no indication that the burial was disturbed. No 
known individual was identified.
    At an unknown date prior to August 1943, a sack filled with bunts 
(wheat smut), a sack containing a worked stick object, and two wooden 
awls were removed by an unknown individual from a grave probably 
located northwest of Santa Rosa on the Tohono O'odham Indian 
Reservation. The objects were probably located on the ground surface 
and there is no indication that the burial was disturbed. No known 
individual was identified. The objects were apparently donated to the 
Arizona State Museum in 1943.
    In 1954, Mr. Joel Shiner collected 89 glass beads and 1 lot of blue 
pigment from a possible burial cave located on a hill northwest of 
Tumamoc Hill near Tucson, AZ. The beads and the pigment were donated to 
the Arizona State Museum in 1955. There is no indication that human 
remains were found at the time that the objects were collected, but 
there are reports that the O'odham people conducted burials using 
similar objects at this location during historic times. It is therefore 
likely that these objects had been placed with human remains. No 
remains were identified.
    These 95 unassociated funerary objects were apparently obtained 
from the ground surface on or near historic graves. Based on the 
locations where they were found, they are clearly determined to be 
affiliated with the O'odham people.
    In 1954, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Sloan collected a clay human figurine 
from the base of a wall near Martinez Hill on the San Xavier Indian 
Reservation of the Tohono O'odham Nation. They subsequently donated the 
object to the Arizona State Museum.
    On an unknown date between 1941 and 1951, Mr. John O'Mara and Mr. 
Norbert O'Mara collected a painted stone fetish, possibly from the 
Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. The object was donated to the 
Arizona State Museum in March 1961.
    In 1982, three quartz crystals were found in the remains of a 
historic house in the village of Nolic on the Tohono O'odham Indian 
Reservation during excavations conducted by the Institute for American 
Research. The crystals were part of a cache belonging to an elderly 
O'odham woman who lived in the house from approximately 1905 to 1930. 
The crystals were brought to the Arizona State Museum along with other 
collections from the same location under a repository agreement.
    During consultations with the Cultural Committee of the Tohono 
O'odham Nation, it was determined that the clay human figurine, the 
painted stone fetish, and the quartz crystals are ceremonial objects 
which are needed by Tohono O'odham religious practitioners for 
traditional practices and therefore, may be classified as sacred 
objects.
    In 1938, Mr. and Mrs. Wetmore Hodges purchased four eagle feathers 
from a medicine man's wand. The feathers had been used in healing 
rituals. The feathers had been owned by a medicine man at Big Fields on 
the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. The medicine man gave the 
feathers to his grandson, who later sold them to the Hodges. The 
Arizona State Museum purchased the feathers from the Hodges in 1939.
    In 1939, Mr. and Mrs. Wetmore Hodges purchased a stone purifying 
bowl from the brother of a medicine man at Little Tucson on the Tohono 
O'odham Indian Reservation. Bowls of this type are used in rituals 
related to childbirth. The Arizona State Museum purchased the bowl from 
the Hodges in 1939.
    In 1939, Mrs. Gwenyth Harrington purchased a medicine basket and 
some of its contents from Benito Segundo, a

[[Page 28080]]

medicine man of the Topowa Village on the Tohono O'odham Indian 
Reservation. The basket and the objects had been used for about 65 
years in healing practices. Mr. Segundo retained other objects which 
had been stored in the basket, but agreed to sell the basket and the 17 
objects described below with the understanding that he could buy them 
back in case he ever needed them again. Mrs. Harrington subsequently 
sold the basket and contents to Mr. and Mrs. Wetmore Hodges, who 
donated them to the Arizona State Museum in September 1939. The objects 
consist of 1 animal bone, 2 carved animal effigies, 1 carved human 
effigy, 1 feather, 1 wooden stick with feather, 1 wooden stick, 1 lot 
of animal hair, 1 bag of sand, 1 lump of earth, 2 animal tails, 1 
bundle of sticks, 2 carved wooden symbols, 1 animal skin, and 1 lot of 
botanical material.
    Curators and other staff of the Arizona State Museum participated 
in consultations with the Cultural Committee of the Tohono O'odham 
Nation regarding the four eagle feathers, the stone purifying bowl, the 
medicine basket and its contents. As a result of these consultations, 
it was determined that these objects are ceremonial objects that are 
needed by Tohono O'odham religious practitioners for traditional 
practices. It was furthermore determined that these 23 objects should 
be considered the property of the Tohono O'odham Nation as a whole and 
should not have been sold by individuals. There is specialized 
knowledge about these objects, which is not shared by everyone, and 
consequently those who sold the objects may not have been aware that 
these items could not be alienated or conveyed by any individual. 
Therefore, these objects have ongoing historical, traditional, and 
cultural importance to the Tohono O'odham Nation as a whole and should 
be considered to be objects that are both cultural patrimony and 
sacred.
    In 1915, a medicine man's basket containing two reed wands wound 
with cotton yarn was found in the collections of the Arizona State 
Museum. The source from which the items were obtained and the date of 
the accession are unknown.
    In April 1942, Ms. Jane Chesky obtained a medicine man's basket in 
four fragments, three gourd rattle fragments and one piece of a worked 
plant stalk from an unspecified location in the Sierra Blanca Mountains 
on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. The rattle and stalk 
fragments were found in the medicine basket. Ms. Chesky subsequently 
donated the objects to the Arizona State Museum.
    In April 1932, Mr. L.R. Caywood collected a medicine basket and 
medicine basket lid from a hill north of a shrine in Santa Rosa on the 
Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. The basket was apparently lying on a 
talus slope below a shallow cave on the hill. On an unknown date prior 
to March 1949, the basket and its lid were donated to the Arizona State 
Museum and catalogued separately.
    These three baskets are clearly of the same form as the medicine 
man's basket that was purchased by Mrs. Harrington in 1939. 
Consultations with the Cultural Committee of the Tohono O'odham Nation 
determined that these objects are ceremonial objects which are needed 
by Tohono O'odham religious practitioners for traditional practices. 
Furthermore, it was determined that these objects have ongoing 
cultural, traditional, and historical importance to the Tohono O'odham 
Nation as a whole and, therefore, must be considered to be objects of 
cultural patrimony.
    Officials of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, have 
determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), that the 95 cultural 
items described above are reasonably believed to have been placed with 
or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part 
of the death rite or ceremony and are believed, by a preponderance of 
the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a 
Native American individual. Officials of the Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, also have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 
3001(3)(C), that the five cultural items described above are specific 
ceremonial objects needed by traditional Native American religious 
leaders for the practice of traditional Native American religions by 
their present-day adherents. In addition, officials of the Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona, have determined, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001(3)(C) and (3)(D), the 36 cultural items described above are 
specific ceremonial objects needed by traditional Native American 
religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native American 
religions by their present-day adherents and have ongoing historical, 
traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native American 
group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an individual. 
Lastly, officials of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, 
also have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), that there is a 
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced 
between the unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and sacred 
objects/objects of cultural patrimony and the Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects, sacred 
objects, and/or sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony should 
contact John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 626-2950, 
before June 13, 2011. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary 
objects, sacred objects, and sacred objects/objects of cultural 
patrimony to the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona may proceed after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, is responsible for 
notifying the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: May 9, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-11866 Filed 5-12-11; 8:45 am]
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