[Federal Register: August 14, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 157)]
[Notices]
[Page 48624-48625]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14au03-76]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Northern Arizona,
Flagstaff, 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 associated funerary
objects in the possession of the Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff,
AZ. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from
an unidentified site in the Salt River area of central Arizona.
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 within this notice are the sole responsibility of
the museum that has control of these Native American human remains and
associated funerary objects. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations within this notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Museum
of Northern Arizona professional staff in consultation with
representatives of the Ak-Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak
Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the
Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and California; Fort
McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona,
California & Nevada; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pascua Yaqui Tribe
of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; Yavapai-Apache
Nation of the Camp Verde Indian Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott
Tribe of the Yavapai Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni
Reservation, New Mexico.
At an unknown date, cremated human remains representing a minimum
of one individual were removed from an unidentified site in the Salt
River area of central Arizona. The human remains and associated
funerary objects were given to Mrs. Roslein Birdsell by a relative in
1955 or 1956. No known individual was identified. The three associated
funerary objects are a Casa Grande red-on-buff jar and two quartz
crystals. A chalcedony projectile point that was originally associated
with the human remains subsequently disappeared. In 2000, Mrs. Birdsell
transferred control of the human remains and the three associated
funerary objects to the Museum of Northern Arizona.
Casa Grande red-on-buff pottery vessels generally date to A.D. 700-
900. Archeological evidence indicates that the Salt River area of
central Arizona was occupied during the period A.D. 700-900 by the
Hohokam people, for whom cremation was a common mortuary practice.
Archeological, historical, and oral tradition evidence indicate that
there is a relationship of shared group identity between the Hohokam
people and the present-day Piman and O'odham cultures, represented by
the Ak-Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin)
[[Page 48625]]
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. Hopi and Zuni oral traditions also indicate that
segments of the prehistoric Hohokam population migrated to areas
occupied by the ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni and were assimilated
into the resident populations.
Officials of the Museum of Northern Arizona have determined that,
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American
ancestry. Officials of the Museum of Northern Arizona also have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the three objects
described above are reasonably believed to have been placed with the
individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the
death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of the Museum of Northern
Arizona 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 associated funerary
objects and the Ak-Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin)
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila
River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona;
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni
Reservation, New Mexico.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Elaine Hughes, Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101
North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, telephone (928) 774-5211,
extension 228, before September 15, 2003. Repatriation of the human
remains and associated funerary objects to the Ak-Chin Indian Community
of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River
Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi
Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt
River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed after that date
if no additional claimants come forward.
The Museum of Northern Arizona is responsible for notifying the Ak-
Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation,
Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian
Reservation, Arizona and California; Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation,
Arizona; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California & Nevada; Gila
River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona;
Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona;
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp
Verde Indian Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the
Yavapai Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation,
New Mexico that this notice has been published.
Dated: July 9, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-20755 Filed 8-13-03; 8:45 am]
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