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FR Doc 03-16807
[Federal Register: July 3, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 128)]
[Notices]
[Page 39968-39969]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03jy03-102]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of
the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law
Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM
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), 43 CFR 10.8 (f), of the
intent to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of
Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, that meet the definitions of sacred
objects and cultural patrimony under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
[[Page 39969]]
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, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the
cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations within this notice.
The seven cultural items are one wooden stick with white paint,
several sticks wrapped in a blue cloth, one ceramic bowl, and four
anthropomorphic kachina figures.
During 1999 and 2000, the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM,
participated in an undercover investigation of several individuals
believed to be engaged in the illegal trafficking of Native American
cultural items. Federal agents purchased or seized several cultural
items as part of the investigation. On September 10, 2002, Joshua Baer
and Thomas Cavaliere each pled guilty to three counts of illegal
trafficking of Native American cultural items obtained in violation of
18 U.S.C. 1170 (b). On January 3 and February 12, 2003, the U.S.
District Court for the District of New Mexico ordered that all items
seized during the investigation be forfeited to the U.S. Department of
the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law
Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, and repatriated to the culturally
affiliated Indian tribes. The seven cultural items are part of the
items forfeited to the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, prepared a summary
of the cultural items obtained during the investigation. The U.S.
Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of
Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, also consulted with representatives
of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico &
Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo
of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; and Zuni
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
Representatives of the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico identified the
seven cultural items as ceremonial objects needed for the practice of
traditional religion. The stick with white paint is needed for the
ceremonial rabbit hunt. The sticks wrapped in the blue cloth are prayer
sticks removed from an offering site. The ceramic bowl is a medicine
bowl used in kiva ceremonies. The four kachina figures are needed for
religious practices. The representatives of the Pueblo of Acoma, New
Mexico identified all seven cultural items as the communal property of
the pueblo as a whole that could not be sold or given away by an
individual.
Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the seven cultural
items are specific ceremonial objects needed by traditional Native
American religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native
American religions by their present-day adherents. Officials of the
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office
of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, have determined that, pursuant to
25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), the seven cultural items also have ongoing
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to a Native
American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an
individual. Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, 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 seven cultural items and the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the sacred objects/objects of cultural
patrimony should contact Special Agent Lucinda D. Schroeder, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 4901 Paseo Del Norte, Albuquerque, NM 87113,
telephone (505) 828-3064, before August 4, 2003. Repatriation of the
sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony to the Pueblo of Santo
Domingo, New Mexico may proceed after that date if no additional
claimants come forward.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, is responsible for
notifying the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico
& Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico;
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; and
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has
been published.
Dated: May 27, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-16807 Filed 7-2-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S
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