[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32185-32186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16025]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC and Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

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 and an associated funerary 
object in the control of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the physical custody of the 
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. The human 
remains and associated funerary object were removed from a site within 
the boundaries of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Maricopa and Pinal 
Counties, AZ.
    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 and associated funerary object. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Arizona 
State Museum and Bureau of Indian Affairs professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Ak Chin Indian Community of 
the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt River 
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; 
and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.
    In 1973, human remains representing a minimum of four individuals 
were removed from a cave northwest of St. Johns Church, located within 
the boundaries of the Gila River Indian Reservation in Maricopa County, 
AZ. No additional site information is available. The human remains were 
collected by agents of the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau 
of

[[Page 32186]]

Investigation and were received by the Arizona State Museum later that 
same year. No known individuals were identified. The one associated 
funerary object is a textile fragment.
    Museum records lack sufficient information to culturally affiliate 
the human remains with any specific tribe. However, examination by a 
forensic anthropologist indicates that the human remains are of Native 
American ancestry, and possibly date to the Historic Period.
    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Arizona State Museum 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human 
remains described above represent the physical remains of four 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs and Arizona State Museum also have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the one object described above is 
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. Lastly, officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Arizona 
State Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), a 
relationship of shared group identity cannot be reasonably traced 
between the Native American human remains and associated funerary 
object and any present-day Indian tribe.
    The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review 
Committee (Review Committee) is responsible for recommending specific 
actions for disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains. In 
2008, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Arizona State Museum requested 
that the Review Committee recommend disposition of the culturally 
unidentifiable human remains to the Gila River Indian Community of the 
Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona, as the aboriginal and historic 
occupants of the lands near St. Johns Church in Maricopa County, AZ. 
The Review Committee considered the request at its October 11-12, 2008 
meeting and recommended disposition of the human remains to the Gila 
River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona. 
An April 3, 2009 letter from the Designated Federal Official on behalf 
of the Secretary of the Interior transmitted the authorization for the 
museum to effect disposition of the human remains of the four 
culturally unidentifiable individuals to the Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona contingent on 
the publication of a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal 
Register. This notice fulfills that requirement. In the same letter, 
the Secretary recommended the transfer of the associated funerary 
object to the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona, to the extent allowed by Federal, state, or local 
law.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and/or associated 
funerary object should contact John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, 
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, 
telephone (520) 626-2950, before July 7, 2009. Disposition of the human 
remains and associated funerary object to the Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying the Ak Chin 
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: May 29, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-16025 Filed 7-6-09; 8:45 am]
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