[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 197 (Thursday, October 9, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59653-59654]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-23953]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: San Diego Museum 
of Man, San Diego, CA

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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the San Diego Museum 
of Man, San Diego, CA, that meet the definition of ``unassociated 
funerary objects'' or ``objects of cultural patrimony'' 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 cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not

[[Page 59654]]

responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    The cultural items are 26 unassociated funerary objects and 2 
objects of cultural patrimony.
    In 1959, cultural items were removed by M.J. Rogers from an 
abandoned Papago Village approximately four miles west of Covered 
Wells, Pima County, AZ, on the south side of Highway 86. The 26 
unassociated funerary objects are 24 pottery sherds, 1 cockle shell 
fragment, and 1 metavolcanic stone (possibly rhyolite) scraper.
    The 24 pottery sherds are reasonably believed to have been placed 
as part of a pottery sacrifice on graves covered with boulders. Based 
on consultation with tribal representative of the Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona, the cockle shell frament and metavolcanic stone scraper are 
also reasonably believed to be unassociated funerary objects.
    In 1976, one medicine bundle container (dated to circa 1930) was 
acquired from Mrs. Martinez of Havanna Naka (Crow Hang) Village on what 
was called the Papago Reservation. The medicine bundle belonged to Mrs. 
Martinez' husband, a local medicine man.
    In 1986, one Wihosa mask was acquired from Sylvester Matthias, a 
Pima, from Komatke, AZ, who inherited it as the last person in the 
(hereditary) line. The cultural item is used in the Navichu ceremony.
    Based on consultation with a tribal representative of the Tohono 
O'odham Nation of Arizona, the officials of the San Diegeo Museum of 
Man have reasonably determined that the two cultural items are objects 
of cultural patrimony used in important ceremonies of the O'odham 
people and could not have been alienated by a single individual.
    Recorded information from museum records about the unassociated 
funerary items and items of cultural patrimony states that all the 
items were located on either traditional Papago (Tohono O'odham) or 
Pima (Akimel O'odham) land. Descendants of the O'odham people are 
members of the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.
    Consultation with a tribal representative of the Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona, also 
determined that the cultural items, whether traditional Pima or Papago, 
should be repatriated to the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona based on 
the location of where they were found.
    Officials of the San Diego Museum of Man have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 26 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. Officials of the San Diego Museum of Man also have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), the two cultural 
items described above have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural 
importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, 
rather than property owned by an individual. Lastly, officials of the 
San Diego Museum of Man 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 unassociated funerary objects and objects 
of cultural patrimony and the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects and 
objects of cultural patrimony should contact Philip Hoog, NAGPRA 
Coordinator, San Diego Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park, San 
Diego, CA 92101, telephone (619) 239-2001, before November 10, 2008. 
Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects and objects of 
cultural patrimony to the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The San Diego Museum of Man is responsible for notifying the Gila 
River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona 
and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: September 10, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-23953 Filed 10-8-08; 8:45 am]
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