[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11580-11582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4505]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: 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.

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SUMMARY: The United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, and the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, have 
completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes, and have determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian tribes. 
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona. Repatriation of the human remains 
to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants 
come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona, at the address below by March 28, 
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 hereby 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 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 (ASM). The human 
remains were removed from sites within the boundaries of the Fort 
Apache Indian Reservation, Gila and Navajo Counties, 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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

[[Page 11581]]

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the ASM 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1979, legally authorized test excavations were conducted at site 
AZ P:14:264 (ASM), Navajo County, AZ, by the University of Arizona 
Archaeological Field School, under the direction of Brian Byrd. No 
human burials were intentionally excavated during this project. 
Archeological collections from the site were brought to the museum at 
the end of the field season, but no accession number was assigned to 
them. In 2011, ASM staff found fragmentary human remains representing, 
at minimum, one individual intermingled with animal bone collections 
from this site. The animal bones are not considered to be associated 
funerary objects. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Site AZ P:14:264 is a sherd and lithic scatter located near the 
test excavation sites. Based on the ceramic assemblage, the site has 
been dated to the period A.D. 1000-1400. The ceramic forms are 
consistent with the archeologically-described Upland Mogollon or 
prehistoric Western Pueblo traditions.
    In 1979, legally authorized test excavations were conducted at site 
AZ P:14:296 (ASM), Navajo County, AZ, by the University of Arizona 
Archaeological Field School, under the direction of Brian Byrd. No 
human burials were intentionally excavated during this project. 
Archeological collections from the site were brought to the museum at 
the end of the field season, but no accession number was assigned to 
them. In 2011, ASM staff found fragmentary human remains representing, 
at minimum, one individual intermingled with animal bone collections 
from this site. The animal bones are not considered to be associated 
funerary objects. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Site AZ P:14:296 consists of a sherd and lithic scatter. In 
addition, the remains of at least one pit house were located near the 
test excavation sites. Based on the ceramic assemblage and 
architectural forms, the site has been dated to A.D. 700-900. The 
ceramic and architectural forms are consistent with the 
archeologically-described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo 
traditions.
    In 1979, legally authorized test excavations were conducted at site 
AZ P:14:297 (ASM), Navajo County, AZ, by the University of Arizona 
Archaeological Field School, under the direction of Brian Byrd. No 
human burials were intentionally excavated during this project. 
Archeological collections from the site were brought to the museum at 
the end of the field season, but no accession number was assigned to 
them. In 2011, ASM staff found fragmentary human remains representing, 
at minimum, two individuals intermingled with animal bone collections 
from this site. The animal bones are not considered to be associated 
funerary objects. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Site AZ P:14:297 is a sherd and lithic scatter. In addition, the 
remains of at least one pit house were located near the test excavation 
sites. Based on a tree ring date, the site has been dated to the period 
A.D. 800-1000. The ceramic and architectural forms are consistent with 
the archeologically-described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western 
Pueblo traditions.
    In 1979, legally authorized test excavations were conducted at site 
AZ V:2:72 (ASM), Gila County, AZ, by the University of Arizona 
Archaeological Field School, under the direction of Brian Byrd. No 
human burials were intentionally excavated during this project. 
Archeological collections from the site were brought to the museum at 
the end of the field season, but no accession number was assigned to 
them. In 2011, ASM staff found fragmentary human remains representing, 
at minimum, one individual intermingled with animal bone collections 
from this site. The animal bones are not considered to be associated 
funerary objects. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Site AZ V:2:72 is a rock shelter located in the same vicinity as 
Hole Canyon Pueblo, site AZ V:2:5. Based on the ceramic assemblage, the 
site has been dated to A.D. 1000-1200. The ceramic 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

[[Page 11582]]

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 from these ancestral Upland Mogollon 
sites. 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 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 from these ancestral Upland Mogollon 
sites and is ready to assist the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, in their reburial on tribal land.

Determinations Made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Arizona 
State Museum

    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Arizona State 
Museum have determined that:
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of five individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
    <bullet> 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 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 human remains should contact John 
McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum, University of 
Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 626-2950, before March 28, 
2012. Repatriation of the human remains 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, Arizona; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 2, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-4505 Filed 2-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P