[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 92 (Thursday, May 13, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 26988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11455]



[[Page 26988]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Colorado Museum, 
Boulder, 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 possession of the 
University of Colorado Museum, Boulder, CO. The human remains were 
removed from Montezuma 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 University 
of Colorado Museum professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Southern Ute Indian 
Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; 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, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from Yellow Jacket, Montezuma County, CO, by an 
unknown individual. No known individual was identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Between 1954 and 1990, Dr. Joe Ben Wheat and students participating 
in University of Colorado Museum sponsored archeological field schools 
worked near the Yellow Jacket Pueblo ruin. During that time, human 
remains representing several hundred individuals were removed from 
three sites near Yellow Jacket Pueblo (5MT1, 5MT2, and 5MT3), Montezuma 
County, CO, during legally conducted excavations, as described in the 
Federal Register (71 FR 53470-53473, September 11, 2006). Also during 
that time, a local land owner made a donation to the museum of human 
remains representing one Ute individual excavated from private land at 
the edge of Yellow Jacket Canyon, as described in the Federal Register 
(72 FR 36030-36031, July 2, 2007). In February 2009, the human remains 
described in this notice were found in the museum.
    Based on the biological evidence, the human remains are Native 
American. Officials of the University of Colorado Museum reasonably 
believe the human remains are Ute based on the biological and 
geographical evidence. Historical accounts located the bands that are 
now Federally-recognized as the Ute Mountain Tribe and the Southern Ute 
Indian Tribe in an area stretching from southwestern to south central 
Colorado, and from there to northwestern New Mexico. Historical 
accounts placed the other Ute bands that are now the Ute Indian Tribe 
of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation in an area between the Gunnison River 
in Colorado and the Uintah Basin in Utah (A.D. 1800). The ``Indian Land 
Areas Judicially Established 1978 Map,'' indicates a legal claim to 
land in southwestern Colorado based upon historic use by the Ute and 
Navajo tribes. In the last 250 years, the presence of the Ute tribes in 
the area of western Colorado has been historically documented by both 
Spanish and U.S. records. The present northern boundary of the Ute 
Mountain Reservation is only 12 miles south of the burial site.
    Officials of the University of Colorado Museum have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the University of Colorado Museum also 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 Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & 
Ouray Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Steve 
Lekson, Curator of Anthropology, University of Colorado Museum, 
Henderson Building, Campus Box 218, Boulder, CO 80309-0218, telephone 
(303) 492-6671, before June 14, 2010. Repatriation of the human remains 
to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, 
Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; and 
Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New 
Mexico & Utah may proceed after that date if no additional claimants 
come forward.
    The University of Colorado Museum is responsible for notifying the 
Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern 
Ute Reservation, Colorado; 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: May 5, 2010.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-11455 Filed 5-12-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S