Notice of Intended Disposition: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Carson National Forest, Taos, NM, 106566 [2024-31287]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 249 (Monday, December 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 106566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31287]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039250; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Disposition: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Forest Service, Carson National Forest, Taos, NM

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, Carson National Forest (CAF), intends to carry out the 
disposition of human remains removed from Federal or Tribal lands to 
the lineal descendants, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization 
with priority for disposition in this notice.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after January 29, 2025. If no claim for disposition is received by 
December 30, 2025, the human remains in this notice will become 
unclaimed human remains.

ADDRESSES: Erin E. Brown, Forest Archeologist, USDA Forest Service, 
Carson National Forest, 208 Cruz Alta Road, Taos, NM 87571, telephone 
(575) 779-4827, 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 the 
CAF, and additional information on the human remains in this notice, 
including the results of consultation, can be found in the related 
records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
identifications in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Based on the information available, human remains representing, at 
least, one individual have been reasonably identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present. A single human tooth was mailed to the 
Jicarilla Ranger District of the Carson National Forest in August 2002 
by a private individual. While hiking the individual encountered what 
was initially thought to be the bottom of a ceramic vessel near a 
fallen log. The individual removed soil around the ``vessel'' and found 
the vessel was actually a human skull. The individual explained the 
tooth was removed so the Forest Service could ``date'' the site. 
Attempts to locate the source of the tooth were unsuccessful. Known 
archeological sites in the area of the discovery are a mix of Ancestral 
Puebloan Pueblo I and Early Navajo sites. The Jicarilla Ranger District 
is located in Rio Arriba County, NM.

Determinations

    The CAF has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     Based on geographic affiliation, the Apache Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma; Comanche Nation, 
Oklahoma; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; 
Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Navajo 
Nation, Arizona, New Mexico, & Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San 
Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa 
Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Santo 
Domingo Pueblo; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute 
Reservation, Colorado; Ute Mountain Ute Tribe; White Mountain Apache 
Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona; Wichita and Affiliated 
Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, & Tawakonie), Oklahoma; Yselta del Sur 
Pueblo; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico have 
priority for disposition of the human remains described in this notice.

Claims for Disposition

    Written claims for disposition of the human remains in this notice 
must be sent to the appropriate official identified in this notice 
under ADDRESSES. If no claim for disposition is received by December 
30, 2025, the human remains in this notice will become unclaimed human 
remains. Claims for disposition may be submitted by:
    1. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization 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 they have priority for disposition.
    Disposition of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after January 29, 2025. If competing claims for disposition are 
received, the CAF must determine the most appropriate claimant prior to 
disposition. Requests for joint disposition of the human remains are 
considered a single request and not competing requests. The CAF is 
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the lineal 
descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations 
identified in this notice and to any other consulting parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3002, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.7.

    Dated: December 19, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-31287 Filed 12-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P