[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 211 (Wednesday, November 2, 1994)]
[Notices]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-27078]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: November 2, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 

Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession 
of the USDA Forest Service

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given under provisions of the Native American 
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of the intent to repatriate 
cultural items in the possession of the Cibola National Forest, USDA 
Forest Service, that meet the definition of ``sacred object'' under 
Section 2 of the Act.
    The items consist of 30 essentially complete prayer sticks of aspen 
and willow, 5 fragments of prayer sticks, one red flicker feather, one 
cornhusk, and a small amount of deteriorating organic matter. The items 
were reportedly gathered in 1977 or 1978 by an anonymous collector from 
a cairn/shrine on Mt. Taylor, NM. The items were returned to the 
possession of the USDA Forest Service in 1991 or 1992. The precise 
location of the cairn/shrine is not known.
    The objects in this collection resemble the prayer sticks described 
and illustrated in Leslie A. White's The Acoma Indians (Smithsonian 
Institution, 1932: 126-129). Representatives of the Pueblo of Acoma 
have inspected the items and confirm their identification as prayer 
sticks. The representatives of the Pueblo of Acoma indicate that prayer 
sticks are left as offerings at a cairn/shrine located on Mt. Taylor as 
part of their traditional religious practice. Once left as an offering, 
the Acoma religion requires that such prayer sticks not be disturbed.
    Reginald T. Pasqual, governor of the Pueblo of Acoma, has claimed 
the prayer sticks and associated materials as sacred objects and 
requested their repatriation to the Pueblo of Acoma. The Hopi Tribe and 
the Navajo Nation have been consulted and both support the claim of the 
Pueblo of Acoma to this particular collection of prayer sticks from Mt. 
Taylor.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the USDA 
Forest Service have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), that 
these items are specific ceremonial objects needed by the traditional 
religious leaders of the Pueblo of Acoma for the practice of their 
traditional religion by its present day adherents. Officials of the 
USDA Forest Service have further determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(2), that there is a relationship of shared group identity which can be 
reasonably traced between these items and the Pueblo of Acoma.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Pueblo of Acoma. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribe which believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these cultural items should contact Dr. 
Frank E. Wozniak, NAGPRA Coordinator, Southwestern Region, USDA Forest 
Service, 517 Gold Avenue, SW., Albuquerque, NM 87102, telephone: (505) 
842-3238, before December 2, 1994. Repatriation of these sacred objects 
to the Pueblo of Acoma may begin after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
Dated: October 12, 1994.
Veletta Canouts,
Acting Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Acting Chief, Archeological Assistance Division.
[FR Doc. 94-27078 Filed 11-1-94; 8:45 am]
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