[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 245 (Wednesday, December 22, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76781-76782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-28000]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and 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. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in 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. The human 
remains and associated funerary objects were removed from sites within 
the boundaries of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Pinal County, AZ.
    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 human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Arizona 
State Museum professional staff and Bureau of Indian Affairs 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Ak Chin 
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima[macr]Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The 
Zuni Tribe has withdrawn from this consultation. The Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona is acting on 
behalf of the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima[macr]Maricopa Indian Community of 
the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona; and themselves.
    In September 1964, human remains representing one individual were 
collected from the surface of the Snaketown site (AZ:U:13:1 ASM) on the 
Gila River Indian Reservation, Pinal County, AZ, by F.V. Crane. No 
known individual was identified. The five associated funerary objects 
are three sherds and two lithic artifacts. Other human remains and 
associated funerary objects from this site were published in a notice 
of inventory completion in the Federal Register on December 29, 2000, 
pages 83079[macr]81, FR Doc. 00[macr]33272.
    Mr. Crane removed the human remains and associated funerary objects 
from the Snaketown site and donated them, with M.W.A. Crane, to the 
Denver Museum of Natural History in 1983. In July 2002, officials from 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs transferred custody of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects to the Arizona State Museum.
    The archeological evidence, including characteristics of portable 
material culture, attributes of ceramic styles, domestic and ritual 
architecture, site organization, and canal-based agriculture of the 
settlement, places the Snaketown site within the 
archeologically[macr]defined Hohokam tradition and within the Phoenix 
Basin local variant of that tradition. The occupation of the Snaketown 
site spans the years circa A.D. 500/700[macr]1100/1150.
    At an unknown date between 1931 and 1934, human remains 
representing one individual were removed from a cremation feature at an 
unknown site in the vicinity of Sacaton (AZ U:14:[macr][macr]) area, 
Gila River Indian Reservation, Pinal County, AZ, by Carl A. Moosberg. 
No known individual was identified. The one associated funerary object 
is a Sacaton Red[macr]on[macr]buff jar in which the remains had been 
placed subsequent to cremation. The vessel and the human remains were 
donated to the Arizona State Museum by Carl A. Moosberg in 1935. In 
1953, the vessel and the remains were sent to the Denver Museum of 
Natural History as part of an exchange. In July 2002, officials from 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs transferred custody of the human remains 
and the vessel back to the Arizona State Museum.
    Based on characteristics of the mortuary pattern and the attributes 
of the ceramic style, this burial has been identified as being 
associated with the Sedentary Phase of the Hohokam archeological 
tradition, which spanned the years circa A.D. 950[macr]1150.
    Continuities of mortuary practices, ethnographic materials, and 
technology indicate affiliation of Hohokam settlements with 
present[macr]day O'odham (Piman), Pee Posh (Maricopa), and Puebloan 
cultures. Oral traditions documented for the Ak Chin Indian Community 
of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River 
Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima[macr]Maricopa Indian Community of the 
Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and 
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico support affiliation with 
Hohokam sites in central Arizona.
    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Arizona State Museum 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9[macr]10), the human 
remains described above represent the physical remains of two 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs and Arizona State Museum also have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the six cultural items described 
above are reasonably believed to have been placed with or near 
individual human

[[Page 76782]]

remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or 
ceremony. Lastly, officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Arizona 
State Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), 
there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably 
traced between the Native American human remains and associated 
funerary objects and the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak 
Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the 
Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt 
River Pima[macr]Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact John Madsen, Repatriation Coordinator, Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 
621[macr]4795, before January 21, 2005. Repatriation of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the Ak Chin Indian Community 
of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River 
Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima[macr]Maricopa Indian Community of the 
Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation 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 Ak Chin 
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima[macr]Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that 
this notice has been published.
    Dated: November 16, 2004
    Sherry Hutt,
    Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 04-28000 Filed 12-21-04; 8:45 am]
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