Federal Register / Vol. 60 No. 124 / Wednesday June 28, 1995 /
Notices Page 33428
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion for Human Remains In the
Possession of Pipe Spring National Monument, National Park
Service, Moccasin, AZ
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior
ACTION: Notice
_________________________________________________________________
Notice is hereby given under the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d), of completion
of Inventory for Native American human remains in the possession
of the National Park Service at Pipe Spring National Monument,
Moccasin, AZ.
The human remains represent four individuals. The first set of
remains (accession PISP-00155, catalog PISP 667) has been
identified as male and consists of a cranium. The second set of
remains (accession PISP-00155) has been identified as male and
consists of a cranium and mandible (catalog PISP 668); a tibial
shaft segment (catalog PISP 675); and a fibular fragment (catalog
PISP 676). Accession records indicate that both sets of remains
were excavated from south of the Pipe Spring fortified ranch
house, and given to the National Park Service by former Monument
Custodian Leonard Heaton in 1939.
The third set of remains -- unaccessioned and uncatalogued -- has
been identified as female and consists of a cranium, one
phalange, one metatarsal, four small rib fragments, and two
disarticulated pieces of the left temporal. The fourth set of
remains -- also unaccessioned and uncatalogued -- has been
identified as female and consists of twelve cranial fragments and
a fragment of the head of a femur. National Park Service records
do not indicate the location where these sets of remains were
found, or information on how the remains came into the possession
of the Monument. The Monument is asserting control over these
human remains.
The Kaibab Paiute Tribe expressed interest in repatriation of
these remains as early as July 1992 and have agreed to efforts to
date and identify the cultural affiliation of the remains. As a
result, the National Park Service arranged for an assessment of
the remains by Dr. Mark Taylor, Professor of Anthropology,
Northern Arizona University, in December 1992. Dr. Taylor
concluded that all four sets of remains were of prehistoric
Native Americans, who died over seven-hundred years before
present.
Given the standing interest of the Kaibab Paiute Tribe in
repatriation of these remains and the findings of Dr. Taylor,
additional consultations with the Kaibab Paiute and Hopi tribes
were conducted in 1993. There is archaeological evidence for
ties between both Kaibab Paiute and Hopi culture and prehistoric
Puebloan culture in the Arizona Strip area north of the Grand
Canyon. Both tribes also have oral traditions linking their
cultures to prehistoric occupants of the area. National Park
Service consultations with the Hopi tribe resulted in agreement
that the Hopi tribe would defer to the Kaibab Paiute regarding
this repatriation given that the remains came from Kaibab Paiute
traditional lands. The Kaibab Paiute Tribe formally requested
repatriation of the human remains on January 4, 1995. Based upon
the Kaibab Paiute aboriginal occupancy of the area where the
human remains appear to have been found, and a preponderance of
the evidence supporting a cultural affiliation of the remains
with the Kaibab Paiute Tribe, as well as Hopi concurrence in
repatriation to the Kaibab Paiute Tribe, the National Park
Service has concluded that repatriation to the Kaibab Paiute
Tribe is appropriate.
Inventory of the human remains and funerary objects and review of
accompanying documentation from the four sets of Native American
human remains listed above indicate that no known individuals
were identifiable.
Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the
National Park Service have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C.
3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity which
can be reasonably traced between the Native American human
remains and the Kaibab Paiute Tribe.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact
John W. Hiscock, Superintendent, Pipe Spring National Monument,
HC 65 Box 5, Fredonia, AZ 86022, telephone, (520) 643-7105,
before July 28, 1995. Repatriation of the four sets of human
remains to the Kaibab Paiute Tribe of Arizona will begin after
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
Dated: June 22, 1995
Veletta Canouts
Acting, Departmental Consulting Archeologist and
Acting, Chief, Archeological Assistance Division
[FR Doc. 95-15883 Filed 6-27-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F
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