[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 20 (Monday, February 2, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 5855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-2143]



[[Page 5855]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Forest Service, Santa Fe, NM and Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, 
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

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 in the control of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Santa Fe National Forest, 
Santa Fe, NM, and in the possession of the Maxwell Museum of 
Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM. The human 
remains were removed from site BJ 74 (LA 38962), Sandoval County, NM.
    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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Santa Fe 
National Forest and the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology professional 
staff in consultation with representatives of the Pueblo of Jemez, New 
Mexico.
    Between 1939 and 1949, human remains representing a minimum of 
seven individuals were removed from BJ 74 (LA 38962) in Sandoval 
County, NM, during legally authorized excavations undertaken by the 
University of New Mexico's Archaeological Field School. Subsequent to 
the excavations, the human remains and other archeological materials 
were removed without notification to the Forest Service to Grinnell 
College, Grinnell, IA, for analysis and preparation of a site 
excavation report. In the summer of 2007, Grinnell College had the 
human remains and artifacts delivered to the Maxwell Museum of 
Anthropology, who promptly notified the Forest Service of the existence 
of the collection. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Site BJ 74 (LA 38962) has been identified as an early historic 
Puebloan habitation site based on ceramics, architecture, and site 
organization. The site was occupied during the mid-16th century to the 
late 17th century A.D. Continuities of ethnographic materials, 
technologies, and architecture indicate the affiliation of this site 
with the present-day Pueblo of Jemez. Oral traditions of the Pueblo of 
Jemez support affiliation with early historic Puebloan sites in this 
area of north-central New Mexico.
    Officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 
Santa Fe National Forest have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 
3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent the physical 
remains of seven individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of 
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Santa Fe National 
Forest 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 the Pueblo of Jemez, New 
Mexico.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Dr. 
Frank E. Wozniak, NAGPRA Coordinator, Southwestern Region, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 333 Broadway Blvd. SE, 
Albuquerque, NM 87102, telephone (505) 842-3238, before March 4, 2009. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico 
may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Santa Fe 
National Forest is responsible for notifying the Pueblo of Jemez, New 
Mexico that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 5, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-2143 Filed 1-30-09; 8:45 am]
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