[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23805-23806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10381]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Grand Junction Field Office, Grand Junction, 
CO and Mesa State College, Grand Junction, CO

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 joint control of the 
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Grand 
Junction Field Office, Grand Junction, CO, and Mesa State College, 
Grand Junction, CO. The human remains were removed from Mesa County, 
CO.
    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 Bureau of 
Land Management, Grand Junction Field Office and Mesa State College 
professional staff, in consultation with representatives of the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Ohkay 
Owingeh,

[[Page 23806]]

New Mexico; Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the 
Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North 
& South Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, 
Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, 
New Mexico & Utah.
    On an unknown date in the 1970s, human remains representing two 
individuals were removed from an unknown location near Grand Mesa, in 
Mesa County, CO. On April 1, 2009, the human remains were discovered in 
the Geology Department of Mesa State College by college staff, and were 
reported to the Ute Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, and 
subsequently to the Bureau of Land Management. Based on investigations 
into their origin and placement at Mesa State College, most likely 
these remains were unofficially removed in the 1970s from public lands 
near Grand Mesa, CO, by Mesa State College students who were hiking in 
the area. The students brought the remains to Mesa State College, where 
they were studied and later stored in the Geology Department. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Although the description of the original site location is not 
specific enough to determine land ownership status, most of the land in 
the general region was Federal land administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management at the time the remains were removed. Therefore, the Bureau 
of Land Management assumes control of the human remains for the 
purposes of NAGPRA compliance. Because provenience is limited to a 
regional area, and the remains were collected by Mesa State College 
students and stored by Mesa State College, the college has shared 
control with the Bureau of Land Management. After their discovery in 
the college's Geology Department, the remains were transported by 
Bureau of Land Management staff to the Museum of Western Colorado for 
secure storage pending repatriation.
    The human remains consist of two adult individuals of considerable 
antiquity, and are likely Native Americans. Their reported burial 
within rock crevices correlates with Native American burial practices, 
particularly those of the Ute culture. Furthermore, the original 
location of the human remains lies within traditional Ute lands, and 
within proximity to Ute sites and historic trails.
    Officials of the Bureau of Land Management and Mesa State College 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9)-(10), the human 
remains described above represent the physical remains of two 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of 
Land Management and Mesa State College have also 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 Ute Tribes - Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute 
Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; and, in particular, 
the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Dan 
Haas, State Archaeologist, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State 
Office, 2850 Youngfield St., Lakewood, CO 80215-7076, telephone (303) 
239-3647, before June 3, 2010. Repatriation of the human remains to the 
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah, may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for notifying the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Ohkay 
Owingeh, New Mexico; Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah; Pueblo of San 
Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa 
Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Shoshone-Bannock 
Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho; Southern Ute Indian Tribe 
of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of 
North & South Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray 
Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah, that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: April 16, 2010.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-10381 Filed 5-3-10; 8:45 am]
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