Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 15796-15798 [2012-6334]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
15796
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Notices
during the EIS process. The Final EIS
tracks the changes made between the
Draft EIS and Final EIS, and includes
responses to all substantive comments
received during the Draft EIS public
comment period.
This Final EIS is not a decision
document. Following conclusion of the
30-day availability period, a ROD will
be signed to disclose the BLM’s final
decision and any project Conditions of
Approval. Availability of the ROD will
be announced through local media, the
Vernal BLM Web site, and Utah BLM’s
Environmental Notification Bulletin
Board.
Juan Palma,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2012–6324 Filed 3–15–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–DQ–P
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–
800–877–8339 to contact the above
individual during normal business
hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week, to leave a message
or question with the above individual.
You will receive a reply during normal
business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Before
including your address, phone number,
email address, or other personal
identifying information in your
comment, you should be aware that
your entire comment—including your
personal identifying information—may
be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your comment
to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mary J.M. Hartel,
Chief, Cadastral Surveyor of Oregon/
Washington.
Bureau of Land Management
[FR Doc. 2012–6471 Filed 3–15–12; 8:45 am]
[LLOR957000–L63100000–HD0000: HAG12–
0112]
BILLING CODE 4310–33–P
Filing of Plats of Survey: Oregon/
Washington
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
AGENCY:
National Park Service
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
The plats of survey of the
following described lands are scheduled
to be officially filed in the Bureau of
Land Management Oregon/Washington
State Office, Portland, Oregon, 30 days
from the date of this publication.
SUMMARY:
Willamette Meridian, Oregon
T. 18 S., R 6 W., accepted February 24, 2012
T. 27 S., R. 10 W., accepted March 2, 2012
T. 21 S., R. 29 E., accepted March 2, 2012
T. 20 S., R. 29 E., accepted March 2, 2012
T. 23 S., R. 6 W., accepted March 2, 2012
T. 33 S., R. 5 W., accepted March 2, 2012
A copy of the plats may be
obtained from the Land Office at the
Bureau of Land Management, Oregon/
Washington State Office, 333 SW. 1st
Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204, upon
required payment. A person or party
who wishes to protest against a survey
must file a notice that they wish to
protest (at the above address) with the
Oregon/Washington State Director,
Bureau of Land Management, Portland,
Oregon.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyle
Hensley, (503) 808–6124, Branch of
Geographic Sciences, Bureau of Land
Management, 333 SW. 1st Avenue,
Portland, Oregon 97204. Persons who
use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
ADDRESSES:
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:10 Mar 15, 2012
Jkt 226001
[2253–665]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural
Items: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington,
DC, and the Arizona State Museum,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
National Park Service, Interior.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The U.S. Department of the
Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and
the Arizona State Museum, University
of Arizona, in consultation with the
appropriate Indian tribes, have
determined that the cultural items meet
the definition of unassociated funerary
objects and repatriation to the Indian
tribes stated below may occur if no
additional claimants come forward.
Representatives of any Indian tribe that
believes itself to be culturally affiliated
with the cultural items may contact the
Arizona State Museum, University of
Arizona.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian
tribe that believes it has a cultural
affiliation with the cultural items
should contact the Arizona State
Museum, University of Arizona, at the
address below by April 16, 2012.
ADDRESSES: John McClelland, NAGPRA
Coordinator, P.O. Box 210026, Arizona
State Museum, University of Arizona,
Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 626–
2950.
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00080
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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 under the control of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in
the physical custody of the Arizona
State Museum, University of Arizona,
Tucson, AZ, that meet the definition of
unassociated funerary objects 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 Native
American cultural items. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
History and Description of the Cultural
Items
In 1979, cultural items were removed
from the Pinnacle Site, site AZ
P:14:71(ASM), in Navajo County, AZ,
during a legally authorized survey
conducted by the University of Arizona
Archaeological Field School under the
direction of Madeleine Hinkes. A report
prepared by Hinkes describes the
presence of five unauthorized
excavation pits at this site. The items
listed below were found with human
burials, but the human remains are not
present in the collection. There is no
record in Arizona State Museum files
regarding the accession of these cultural
items. However, the collection likely
entered the museum in the same year as
other collections from the summer field
school. The eight unassociated funerary
objects are 2 animal bone fragments, 1
ceramic sherd, 4 pieces of chipped stone
and 1 chert scraper.
The Pinnacle Site consists of a pueblo
of about 10 rooms and dates from A.D.
1275–1400, based on the ceramic
assemblage. The ceramic and
architectural forms are consistent with
the archeologically described Upland
Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo
traditions.
In 1979, cultural items were removed
from an unnamed site, site AZ
P:14:281(ASM), in Navajo County, AZ,
during a legally authorized survey
conducted by the University of Arizona
Archaeological Field School under the
direction of Madeleine Hinkes. A report
prepared by Hinkes describes the
presence of at least 70 unauthorized
excavation pits at this site. The items
were found with human burials, but the
human remains are not present in the
collection. There is no record in Arizona
E:\FR\FM\16MRN1.SGM
16MRN1
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Notices
State Museum files regarding the
accession of these cultural items.
However, the collection likely entered
the museum in the same year as other
collections from the summer field
school. The 1,116 unassociated funerary
objects are 7 ceramic bowls, 2 ceramic
jars and 1,107 ceramic sherds.
Site AZ P:14:281 contains a pueblo of
about 31 rooms with additional stone
alignments and dates from A.D. 1275–
1400, based on the ceramic assemblage.
The ceramic and architectural forms are
consistent with the archeologically
described Upland Mogollon or
prehistoric Western Pueblo traditions.
A detailed discussion of the basis for
cultural affiliation of archeological sites
in the region where the above sites are
located may be found in ‘‘Cultural
Affiliation Assessment of White
Mountain Apache Tribal Lands (Fort
Apache Indian Reservation),’’ by John R.
Welch and T.J. Ferguson (2005). To
summarize, archeologists have used the
terms Upland Mogollon or prehistoric
Western Pueblo to define the
archeological complexes represented by
the sites listed above. Material culture
characteristics of these traditions
include a temporal progression from
earlier pit houses to later masonry
pueblos, villages organized in room
blocks of contiguous dwellings
associated with plazas, rectangular
kivas, polished and paint-decorated
ceramics, unpainted corrugated
ceramics, inhumation burials,
cradleboard cranial deformation,
grooved stone axes, and bone artifacts.
The combination of the material culture
attributes and a subsistence pattern,
which included hunting and gathering
augmented by maize agriculture, helps
to identify an earlier group.
Archeologists have also remarked that
there are strong similarities between this
earlier group and present-day tribes
included in the Western Pueblo
ethnographic group, especially the Hopi
Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of
the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The
similarities in ceramic traditions, burial
practices, architectural forms, and
settlement patterns have led
archeologists to believe that the
prehistoric inhabitants of the Mogollon
Rim region migrated north and west to
the Hopi mesas, and north and east to
the Zuni River Valley. Certain objects
found in Upland Mogollon
archeological sites have been found to
have strong resemblances to ritual
paraphernalia that are used in
continuing religious practices by the
Hopi and Zuni. Some petroglyphs on
the Fort Apache Indian Reservation
have also persuaded archeologists of
continuities between the earlier
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:10 Mar 15, 2012
Jkt 226001
identified group and current-day
Western Pueblo people. Biological
information from the site of
Grasshopper Pueblo, which is located in
close proximity to the sites listed above,
supports the view that the prehistoric
occupants of the Upland Mogollon
region had migrated from various
locations to the north and west of the
region.
Hopi and Zuni oral traditions parallel
the archeological evidence for
migration. Migration figures
prominently in Hopi oral tradition,
which refers to the ancient sites,
pottery, stone tools, petroglyphs and
other artifacts left behind by the
ancestors as ‘‘Hopi Footprints.’’ This
migration history is complex and
detailed, and includes traditions
relating specific clans to the Mogollon
region. Hopi cultural advisors have also
identified medicinal and culinary plants
at archeological sites in the region.
Their knowledge about these plants was
passed down to them from the ancestors
who inhabited these ancient sites.
Migration is also an important attribute
of Zuni oral tradition, and includes
accounts of Zuni ancestors passing
through the Upland Mogollon region.
The ancient villages mark the routes of
these migrations. Zuni cultural advisors
remark that the ancient sites were not
abandoned. People returned to these
places from time to time, either to
reoccupy them or for the purpose of
religious pilgrimages—a practice that
has continued to the present-day.
Archeologists have found ceramic
evidence at shrines in the Upland
Mogollon region that confirms these
reports. Zuni cultural advisors have
names for plants endemic to the
Mogollon region that do not grow on the
Zuni Reservation. They also have
knowledge about traditional medicinal
and ceremonial uses for these resources,
which has been passed down to them
from their ancestors. Furthermore, Hopi
and Zuni cultural advisors have
recognized that their ancestors may
have been co-resident at some of the
sites in this region during their ancestral
migrations.
There are differing points of view
regarding the possible presence of
Apache people in the Upland Mogollon
region during the time that these ancient
sites were occupied. Some Apache
traditions describe interactions with
Ancestral Puebloan people during this
time, but according to these stories,
Puebloan people and Apache people
were regarded as having separate
identities. The White Mountain Apache
Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation,
Arizona, does not claim cultural
affiliation with the human remains and
PO 00000
Frm 00081
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
15797
funerary objects from this site. As
reported by Welch and Ferguson (2005),
consultations between the White
Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort
Apache Reservation, Arizona and the
Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico &
Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico;
and Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico,
have indicated that that none of these
tribes wish to pursue claims of
affiliation with sites on White Mountain
Apache Tribal lands. Finally, the White
Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort
Apache Reservation, Arizona, supports
the repatriation of human remains and
funerary objects from this site and is
ready to assist the Hopi Tribe of Arizona
and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation,
New Mexico, in their reburial.
Determinations Made by the U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and
the Arizona State Museum, University
of Arizona
Officials of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs and the Arizona State Museum
have determined that:
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B),
the 1,124 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.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there
is a relationship of shared group
identity that can be reasonably traced
between the unassociated funerary
objects and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona
and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation,
New Mexico.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any other Indian
tribe that believes itself to be culturally
affiliated with the unassociated funerary
objects should contact John McClelland,
NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State
Museum, University of Arizona,
Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 626–
2950 before April 16, 2012. Repatriation
of the unassociated funerary objects to
the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and Zuni
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico, may proceed after that date if
no additional claimants come forward.
The Arizona State Museum is
responsible for notifying the Hopi Tribe
of Arizona; White Mountain Apache
Tribe of the Fort Apache Indian
Reservation; and the Zuni Tribe of the
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, that this
notice has been published.
E:\FR\FM\16MRN1.SGM
16MRN1
15798
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 52 / Friday, March 16, 2012 / Notices
Dated: March 12, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012–6334 Filed 3–15–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[2253–665]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural
Items: The Colorado College, Colorado
Springs, CO
National Park Service, Interior.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Colorado College, in
consultation with the appropriate
Indian tribe, has determined that the
cultural items meet the definition of
unassociated funerary objects and
repatriation to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona
may occur if no additional claimants
come forward. Representatives of any
Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with the cultural
items may contact The Colorado
College.
SUMMARY:
Representatives of any Indian
tribe that believes it has a cultural
affiliation with the cultural items
should contact The Colorado College at
the address below by April 16, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Jermyn Davis, Chief of Staff,
President’s Office, Colorado College,
Armstrong Hall, Room 201, 14 E. Cache
La Poudre, Colorado Springs, CO 80903,
telephone (719) 389–6201.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is
hereby 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 under the control of The Colorado
College that meet the definition of
unassociated funerary objects 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 Native
American cultural items. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
DATES:
History and Description of the Cultural
Items
The 36 unassociated funerary objects
are ceramic vessels, at least two of
which contain corn. The vessels are
bowls, mugs, pitchers, vases (seed jars),
jars and ladles. The vessel styles are
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:10 Mar 15, 2012
Jkt 226001
black-on-gray, black-on-white, Tusayan
black-on-red, corrugated and gray ware.
Between 1897 and 1898, human
remains, associated and unassociated
funerary objects, as well as other
cultural items were removed from a cliff
ruin in a canyon tributary of Comb
Wash, San Juan County, UT, under the
auspices of the Lang Expedition of
1897–1898. Prior to 1900, General
William Jackson Palmer acquired what
became known as the Lang-Bixby
Collection, which he subsequently
transferred to The Colorado College.
Beginning in the late 1960s, the LangBixby Collection was transferred, along
with other collections from The
Colorado College Museum, through
long-term loans to the Fine Arts Center
(formerly known as the Taylor Museum
and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts
Center) and the Denver Museum of
Nature & Science (formerly known as
the Denver Museum of Natural History).
In 1993, the Fine Arts Center included
the unassociated funerary objects from
the Lang-Bixby Collection in its
NAGPRA summary.
The unassociated funerary objects are
ancestral Puebloan based on type and
style. The human remains and
associated funerary objects from this
collection were described in two
Notices of Inventory Completion (NICs)
published in the Federal Register (74
FR 42105–42106, August 20, 2009, and
69 FR 19232–19233, April 12, 2004).
The human remains and associated
funerary objects were determined to be
Ancestral Puebloan. A relationship of
shared group identity can reasonably be
traced between ancestral Puebloan
peoples and modern Puebloan peoples
based on oral tradition and scientific
studies. The human remains and
associated funerary objects have been
repatriated to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona.
A preponderance of the evidence
supports cultural affiliation of the
unassociated funerary objects to the
Hopi Tribe of Arizona.
Determinations Made by The Colorado
College
Officials of The Colorado College have
determined that:
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B),
the 36 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.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there
is a relationship of shared group
identity that can be reasonably traced
PO 00000
Frm 00082
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
between the unassociated funerary
objects and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any other Indian
tribe that believes itself to be culturally
affiliated with the unassociated funerary
objects should contact Jermyn Davis,
Chief of Staff, President’s Office,
Colorado College, Armstrong Hall,
Room 201, 14 E. Cache La Poudre,
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903,
telephone (719) 389–6201, before April
16, 2012. Repatriation of the
unassociated funerary objects to the
Hopi Tribe of Arizona may proceed after
that date if no additional claimants
come forward.
The Colorado College is responsible
for notifying the Hopi Tribe of Arizona
that this notice has been published.
Dated: March 12, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012–6330 Filed 3–15–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312–50–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[2253–665]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural
Items: San Francisco State University,
San Francisco, CA
National Park Service, Interior.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The San Francisco State
University, in consultation with the
appropriate Indian tribes, has
determined that the cultural items meet
the definition of sacred objects and
repatriation to the Indian tribes stated
below may occur if no additional
claimants come forward.
Representatives of any Indian tribe that
believes itself to be culturally affiliated
with the cultural items may contact the
San Francisco State University.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian
tribe that believes it has a cultural
affiliation with the cultural items
should contact the San Francisco State
University at the address below by April
16, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Jeffrey Boland Fentress, San
Francisco State University, Academic
Affairs-ADM 447, San Francisco, CA
94132, telephone (415) 338–3075.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 San
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\16MRN1.SGM
16MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15796-15798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6334]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[2253-665]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and the Arizona
State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs,
and the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, in consultation
with the appropriate Indian tribes, have determined that the cultural
items meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and
repatriation to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no
additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural
items may contact the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the Arizona
State Museum, University of Arizona, at the address below by April 16,
2012.
ADDRESSES: John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, P.O. Box 210026,
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721,
telephone (520) 626-2950.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 under the
control of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the physical custody of the Arizona
State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, that meet the
definition of unassociated funerary objects 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 Native
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible
for the determinations in this notice.
History and Description of the Cultural Items
In 1979, cultural items were removed from the Pinnacle Site, site
AZ P:14:71(ASM), in Navajo County, AZ, during a legally authorized
survey conducted by the University of Arizona Archaeological Field
School under the direction of Madeleine Hinkes. A report prepared by
Hinkes describes the presence of five unauthorized excavation pits at
this site. The items listed below were found with human burials, but
the human remains are not present in the collection. There is no record
in Arizona State Museum files regarding the accession of these cultural
items. However, the collection likely entered the museum in the same
year as other collections from the summer field school. The eight
unassociated funerary objects are 2 animal bone fragments, 1 ceramic
sherd, 4 pieces of chipped stone and 1 chert scraper.
The Pinnacle Site consists of a pueblo of about 10 rooms and dates
from A.D. 1275-1400, based on the ceramic assemblage. The ceramic and
architectural forms are consistent with the archeologically described
Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo traditions.
In 1979, cultural items were removed from an unnamed site, site AZ
P:14:281(ASM), in Navajo County, AZ, during a legally authorized survey
conducted by the University of Arizona Archaeological Field School
under the direction of Madeleine Hinkes. A report prepared by Hinkes
describes the presence of at least 70 unauthorized excavation pits at
this site. The items were found with human burials, but the human
remains are not present in the collection. There is no record in
Arizona
[[Page 15797]]
State Museum files regarding the accession of these cultural items.
However, the collection likely entered the museum in the same year as
other collections from the summer field school. The 1,116 unassociated
funerary objects are 7 ceramic bowls, 2 ceramic jars and 1,107 ceramic
sherds.
Site AZ P:14:281 contains a pueblo of about 31 rooms with
additional stone alignments and dates from A.D. 1275-1400, based on the
ceramic assemblage. The ceramic and architectural forms are consistent
with the archeologically described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric
Western Pueblo traditions.
A detailed discussion of the basis for cultural affiliation of
archeological sites in the region where the above sites are located may
be found in ``Cultural Affiliation Assessment of White Mountain Apache
Tribal Lands (Fort Apache Indian Reservation),'' by John R. Welch and
T.J. Ferguson (2005). To summarize, archeologists have used the terms
Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo to define the
archeological complexes represented by the sites listed above. Material
culture characteristics of these traditions include a temporal
progression from earlier pit houses to later masonry pueblos, villages
organized in room blocks of contiguous dwellings associated with
plazas, rectangular kivas, polished and paint-decorated ceramics,
unpainted corrugated ceramics, inhumation burials, cradleboard cranial
deformation, grooved stone axes, and bone artifacts. The combination of
the material culture attributes and a subsistence pattern, which
included hunting and gathering augmented by maize agriculture, helps to
identify an earlier group. Archeologists have also remarked that there
are strong similarities between this earlier group and present-day
tribes included in the Western Pueblo ethnographic group, especially
the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation,
New Mexico. The similarities in ceramic traditions, burial practices,
architectural forms, and settlement patterns have led archeologists to
believe that the prehistoric inhabitants of the Mogollon Rim region
migrated north and west to the Hopi mesas, and north and east to the
Zuni River Valley. Certain objects found in Upland Mogollon
archeological sites have been found to have strong resemblances to
ritual paraphernalia that are used in continuing religious practices by
the Hopi and Zuni. Some petroglyphs on the Fort Apache Indian
Reservation have also persuaded archeologists of continuities between
the earlier identified group and current-day Western Pueblo people.
Biological information from the site of Grasshopper Pueblo, which is
located in close proximity to the sites listed above, supports the view
that the prehistoric occupants of the Upland Mogollon region had
migrated from various locations to the north and west of the region.
Hopi and Zuni oral traditions parallel the archeological evidence
for migration. Migration figures prominently in Hopi oral tradition,
which refers to the ancient sites, pottery, stone tools, petroglyphs
and other artifacts left behind by the ancestors as ``Hopi
Footprints.'' This migration history is complex and detailed, and
includes traditions relating specific clans to the Mogollon region.
Hopi cultural advisors have also identified medicinal and culinary
plants at archeological sites in the region. Their knowledge about
these plants was passed down to them from the ancestors who inhabited
these ancient sites. Migration is also an important attribute of Zuni
oral tradition, and includes accounts of Zuni ancestors passing through
the Upland Mogollon region. The ancient villages mark the routes of
these migrations. Zuni cultural advisors remark that the ancient sites
were not abandoned. People returned to these places from time to time,
either to reoccupy them or for the purpose of religious pilgrimages--a
practice that has continued to the present-day. Archeologists have
found ceramic evidence at shrines in the Upland Mogollon region that
confirms these reports. Zuni cultural advisors have names for plants
endemic to the Mogollon region that do not grow on the Zuni
Reservation. They also have knowledge about traditional medicinal and
ceremonial uses for these resources, which has been passed down to them
from their ancestors. Furthermore, Hopi and Zuni cultural advisors have
recognized that their ancestors may have been co-resident at some of
the sites in this region during their ancestral migrations.
There are differing points of view regarding the possible presence
of Apache people in the Upland Mogollon region during the time that
these ancient sites were occupied. Some Apache traditions describe
interactions with Ancestral Puebloan people during this time, but
according to these stories, Puebloan people and Apache people were
regarded as having separate identities. The White Mountain Apache Tribe
of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona, does not claim cultural
affiliation with the human remains and funerary objects from this site.
As reported by Welch and Ferguson (2005), consultations between the
White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona and
the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New
Mexico; and Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico, have indicated that that none
of these tribes wish to pursue claims of affiliation with sites on
White Mountain Apache Tribal lands. Finally, the White Mountain Apache
Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona, supports the
repatriation of human remains and funerary objects from this site and
is ready to assist the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni
Reservation, New Mexico, in their reburial.
Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and the Arizona State Museum,
University of Arizona
Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Arizona State
Museum have determined that:
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 1,124 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.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the
unassociated funerary objects and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and Zuni
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should
contact John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 626-2950
before April 16, 2012. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary
objects to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni
Reservation, New Mexico, may proceed after that date if no additional
claimants come forward.
The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying the Hopi
Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Indian
Reservation; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico,
that this notice has been published.
[[Page 15798]]
Dated: March 12, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-6334 Filed 3-15-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P
