[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11571-11572]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4542]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

 National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Fowler Museum at 
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Fowler Museum at UCLA, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes, has determined that the cultural items meet 
the definition of unassociated funerary objects and repatriation to the 
Indian tribe 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 Fowler 
Museum at UCLA.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the Fowler 
Museum at UCLA at the address below by March 28, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Wendy G. Teeter, Ph.D., Curator of Archaeology, Fowler 
Museum at UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, telephone (310) 
825-1864.

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 Fowler Museum at UCLA 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 1922, two unassociated funerary objects were removed from a 
burial at Gila River, AZ, by Frank Larsen. Subsequently, the two 
unassociated funerary objects, a jar and a figurine head, came into the 
possession of Raleigh W. Applegate in 1949. The Fowler Museum at UCLA 
acquired these unassociated funerary objects from Mr. Applegate in 1968 
as part of a larger

[[Page 11572]]

southwestern materials collection. These unassociated funerary objects 
are currently in the control of the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, 
CA.
    Expert testimony identified the jar and the figurine head as Late 
Preclassic Hohokam, dating to A.D. 900-1100. Nearly all of the Sacaton 
red-on-buff vessels were produced at a few villages on the Gila River, 
most of which are now on the Gila River Indian Reservation, AZ.
    The Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona, has submitted a repatriation claim for the 
cultural items described in this notice, on behalf of itself and the Ak 
Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; and the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona 
(hereinafter referred to as ``The Four Southern Tribes of Arizona'').
    The Four Southern Tribes of Arizona assert a close relationship of 
shared group identity that can be traced both historically and 
prehistorically between The Four Southern Tribes of Arizona and the 
people that inhabited south central Arizona and the northern region of 
present day Mexico from time immemorial. Therefore, The Four Southern 
Tribes of Arizona claim cultural affiliation to the cultural items 
based on geographical, archeological, linguistic, oral tradition, and 
historical evidence. These affiliations include several archeological 
cultures including (but not limited to) the Archaic, Paleo-Indian, 
Hohokam, Salado, Patayan, and Sinagua.
    The Hopi Tribe of Arizona claims cultural and ancestral affiliation 
to all human remains, associated and unassociated funerary objects, 
sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony that were collected 
from Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Basketmaker, Hisatsinom (Anasazi), 
Mogollon, Hohokam, Sinaguan, Fremont, Mimbres, and Salado, prehistoric 
and historic cultures of the Southwest.
    Based on Zuni oral teachings and tradition, ethnohistoric 
documentation, historic documentation, archeological documentation, and 
other evidence, the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, 
claims cultural affiliation with prehistoric cultures of the 
southwestern United States that include, and are known as, Paleo 
Indian, Archaic, Basketmaker, Puebloan, Freemont, Anasazi, Mogollon 
(including Mimbres and Jornada), Hohokam, Sinagua, Western Pueblo, and 
Salado. In addition, the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico, claims cultural affiliation with the historically identified 
Zuni, Cibola, Shiwi, and Ashiwi cultures.

Determinations Made by the Fowler Museum at UCLA

    Officials of the Fowler Museum at UCLA have determined that:
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(b), the two 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.
    <bullet> 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 Ak Chin Indian Community of the 
Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and the 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 Wendy G. Teeter, Ph.D., Curator of Archaeology, Fowler Museum 
at UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, telephone (310) 825-
1864, before March 28, 2012. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary 
objects to the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona, on behalf of The Four Southern Tribes of Arizona, 
may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Fowler Museum at UCLA is responsible for notifying The Four 
Southern Tribes of Arizona, the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: February 22, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-4542 Filed 2-24-12; 8:45 am]
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