[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 125 (Tuesday, June 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 35608]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-17312]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects from New Mexico in the Possession of 
the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, 
Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the possession of the Museum of Indian Arts and 
Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Museum of 
Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology professional staff 
in consultation with representatives of the Pueblo of Pojoaque.
    In 1953, human remains representing two individuals were removed 
from the Pojoaque Grant site (LA 835) during legally authorized 
excavations under a National Park Service Federal Antiquities permit by 
Museum of New Mexico staff during a New Mexico State Highway and 
Transportation Department work project. No known individuals were 
identified. The two associated funerary objects are ceramic vessels.
    Based on the associated funerary objects and other cultural 
material present, the Pojoaque Grant site has been identified as an 
Ancestral Puebloan site, occupied between 850--1100 A.D. Further, this 
site is located on Pueblo of Pojoaque tribal lands. Based on material 
culture, continuity of occupation, and oral history presented by 
representatives of the Pueblo of Pojoaque, this site is affiliated with 
the present-day Pueblo of Pojoaque.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the Museum 
of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology have determined 
that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above 
represent the physical remains of two individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory 
of Anthropology have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(2), the two objects listed above are reasonably believed to have 
been placed with or near individual human remains at the time of death 
or later as part of the death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of 
the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology have 
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship 
of shared group identity which can be reasonably traced between these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and the 
Pueblo of Pojoaque.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Pueblo of Pojoaque. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Patricia House, Director, Museum of Indian Arts 
and Cultures/Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, P.O. Box 
2087, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2087; telephone: (505) 827-6344; before July 
30, 1998. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Pueblo of Pojoaque may begin after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
Dated: June 23, 1998.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 98-17312 Filed 6-29-98; 8:45 am]
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