[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 28, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 33428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15883]



[[Page 33428]]

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


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.

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    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]
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