[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 117 (Monday, June 18, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32843-32844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-15307]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Rocky Mountain 
National Park, Estes Park, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the 
Interior, National Park Service, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes 
Park, CO.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2 (c). The 
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
National Park Service unit that has control or possession of these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The 
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships is 
not responsible for the determinations within this notice.
    A detailed inventory and assessment of the human remains has been 
made by professional staff of the National Park Service in consultation 
with representatives of the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray 
Reservation, Utah; Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, 
Wyoming; Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; and Jicarilla Apache 
Tribe of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New Mexico.
    In 1935, human remains representing one individual were discovered 
near the Thompson River entrance to the park. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Soils at Rocky Mountain National Park are highly acidic and not 
conducive to the prolonged preservation of organic materials. Most bone 
left in this type of soil tends to disintegrate within approximately 
100 years. The human remains discovered near the Thompson River 
entrance to the park are in fairly good condition, suggesting that they 
were most likely deposited during the historic period. The Uintah or 
Ouray Ute, Arapaho, and Jicarilla Apache are known to have occupied the 
park in historic times.

[[Page 32844]]

    Based on the above-mentioned information, the Rocky Mountain 
National Park superintendent has determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 
10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical 
remains of one individual of Native American ancestry. The Rocky 
Mountain National Park superintendent also has determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), that there is a relationship of shared 
group identity that can be reasonably traced between these Native 
American human remains and either the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & 
Ouray Reservation, Utah; Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, 
Wyoming; Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; or Jicarilla Apache Tribe 
of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New Mexico.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Ute Indian Tribe of 
the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; and 
Jicarilla Apache Tribe of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New 
Mexico. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself 
to be culturally affiliated with these human remains should contact 
Superintendent A. Durand Jones, Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes 
Park, CO 80517, telephone (970) 586-1332, before July 18, 2001. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah 
& Ouray Reservation, Utah; Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; and 
Jicarilla Apache Tribe of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New 
Mexico may begin after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.

    Dated: May 10, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-15307 Filed 6-15-01; 8:45 am]
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