[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 52 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13444-13447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6658]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the National Park 
Service, Pecos National Historical Park, Pecos, NM

AGENCY: National Park Service DOI.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with the provisions of the 
Native

[[Page 13445]]

American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of the inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the possession of the National Park Service, Pecos 
National Historical Park, Pecos, New Mexico.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by professionals with or working for the National Park 
Service in consultation with representatives of the Apache Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Comanche Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Fort McDowell Mohave-
Apache Community of the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, Arizona; Fort 
Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache 
Tribe of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New Mexico; Kaibab 
Band of Paiute Indian of the Kaibab Indian Reservation, Arizona; Kiowa 
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero 
Reservation, New Mexico; Navajo Nation of New Mexico, Arizona, and 
Utah; Pawnee Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Tesuque, New Mexico; Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico; 
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona; 
Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; 
Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, Colorado; 
White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona; 
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, and Tawakonie), 
Oklahoma; and Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian 
Reservation, Arizona. Invited to consult but not responding were the 
Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; the Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; the 
Pueblo of San Juan, New Mexico; the Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico, 
Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas.
    Human occupation and use of what is now Pecos National Historical 
Park began 12,000 years ago and continued nearly uninterrupted until 
1989, with a full-time Native American community absent since 1838. 
From what is known thus far, there were no inhabitants in the park 
between about AD 950 and 1100. There is evidence from archeology, 
ethnography, history, linguistics, and oral traditions that after AD 
1100, individuals of various cultural groups visited and occupied the 
area now encompassed by Pecos NHP, especially after the second half of 
the 1300s. It was during these years that occupants of the six or seven 
moderately sized pueblos in the valley intentionally built and shifted 
their residences to one great pueblo known as Cicuye, or Pecos Pueblo, 
and conscientiously nurtured the cultural diversity that had apparently 
just begun. The activities set Pecos Pueblo apart from most other 
pueblos and resulted in the incorporation of people from many other 
pueblos and Great Plains tribes. Incorporation was by marriage, as a 
refugee, individual choice as a single person, trading in of captives, 
or taking captives directly during raids. The degree of acculturation 
that occurred, by either social mandate or individual preference, is 
emerging as one of the next great topics of research. As was the custom 
in the valley before arrival of the Spanish, human remains were usually 
buried in or near habitation structures but not in formal cemeteries. 
Judging from the archeological evidence in pottery production, 
permeation of traded items, range of architectural styles, and 
linguistic diversity noted by the Spanish, Pecos Pueblo was a 
cosmopolitan village unlike its contemporaries or prior settlements.
    The first Spanish contact with the people of Pecos Pueblo in 1540 
also marks the first written history of the area. A Christian mission 
was established next to Pecos Pueblo by 1620 and Hispanic homesteads in 
the surrounding area gradually added to the area's population. The 
mission was run by various men in the Franciscan Order of the Roman 
Catholic church. Their primary role was to acculturate the native 
population into a new way of life, especially in the realm of religion, 
as well as service the local Hispanic colonists' religious needs such 
as baptisms, marriages, and burials. The friars at Pecos took anyone 
into the Christian fold. According to historic documents, the 
mechanisms to do so included trading for captives (usually children), 
marrying into the faith, free persons voluntarily accepting 
acculturation, expedient baptizing of elderly moments before death, and 
taking in refugees or those ``just passing through.'' Pueblo and Plains 
captives incorporated into local families and the missionaries' 
household or work force was a standard and accepted part of the social 
make up of the resident valley population from the late 1300s up until 
1809. The friars buried their ``members'' in the formal cemeteries 
adjacent to the mission.
    Disease, raids for food and captives, and emigrations profoundly 
affected the Native American population and as their numbers dwindled, 
the non-Native American population increased. The last emigration of 
Native Americans living in the park was in 1838 when the Pecos Pueblo 
governor and most of the remaining two dozen or so puebloans relocated 
to the Pueblo of Jemez. A 1936 Act of Congress legally established the 
administrative and fiduciary responsibilities of the Pueblo of Jemez 
for the Pecos Pueblo People. The Act reflects the role the Pueblo of 
Jemez has assumed to integrate Pecos' sacred knowledge and rituals into 
the Jemez community since the 1838 emigration from Pecos Pueblo.
    Scientific investigations began in earnest in 1914 although some 
documentation from the 1880s exists. There are some official 
demographic records for the area. The earliest known sacramental 
records are from 1694 and later. Such record keeping was done from 1620 
to 1693 but are presumed to have been destroyed in the 1680 revolt. All 
census records for the valley post date 1840.
    None of the human remains on the park's culturally affiliated 
NAGPRA inventory are from Pecos Pueblo and only the four individuals 
from the Christian cemetery had associated funerary objects. The 
process followed to determine cultural affiliation, given the 
circumstances of cultural diversity and few or no associated funerary 
items, was to first establish biological affiliation using a standard 
physical anthropological assessment and then determine the era to which 
the remains date by analyzing their context in the archeological 
record. It was then determined using archeological, ethnographic, 
historic, and geographic evidence as well as information acquired 
through consultation, which Indian tribes of today had an ancestral 
presence at the estimated time of interment. Those identified are the 
Native American affiliates that have been determined to have a vested 
interest under the terms of NAGPRA.
    In 1977, human remains representing one individual were recovered 
from the Sewer Line site during legally authorized excavations 
conducted by the National Park Service. No known individuals were 
identified. No funerary objects were present.
    The pithouse's age dates to about AD 840 and the fill in which the 
remains came date between AD 840 and 900. Plainly made pottery and 
puebloan masonry architecture at the Sewer Line

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site are hallmarks of other pithouse sites that, as material culture, 
represent a non-specific puebloan culture. Pithouses are associated 
with the first signs of a sedentary lifestyle in the southwest that 
developed into today's pueblo descendants. Oral traditional evidence 
has led to the conventional understanding that the Pecos puebloan 
pithouses represent a basic native population that is recounted in all 
of the pueblos today and that all puebloan peoples view these early 
pithouse sites as ancestral. Officials of the National Park Service 
relied upon archeological, geographical, and oral traditional evidence 
to determine the cultural affiliation of these human remains.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the National 
Park Service have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the 
human remains listed above represent the physical remains of 1 
individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the National Park 
Service have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there 
is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably 
traced between these Native American human remains and the Pueblo of 
Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of San Juan, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; 
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; and Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    In 1983, human remains representing one individual were recovered 
from the fill of a pithouse below the historic Square Ruin site during 
legally authorized excavations conducted by the National Park Service. 
No known individuals were identified. No funerary objects were present.
    The remains were unintentionally exhumed from rodent-churned 
deposits from immediately above a primary burial that was not removed. 
The park is prepared to reinter these remains with the burial still in 
place. The context of the remains predates and is not associated with 
the historic component of the Square Ruin site and post dates the 
pithouse. The remains were surrounded by numerous prehistoric puebloan 
pottery pieces and stone artifacts whose precise stratigraphical 
position in the deposit were in disarray due to rodent activity. The 
types and ages of such prehistoric puebloan artifacts is well 
established as a result of research over the past 100 years. The 
ceramic assemblage from the level of the burial and immediately above 
is from the black-on-white tradition dating from AD 1175 to 1350. The 
park's ethnographic overview describes cultural relationships between 
certain modern pueblos and early pueblo occupation in the park that are 
consistent with the age determination of the human remains based on the 
surrounding artifacts. For instance, there are several Cochiti 
residents with surnames, such as ``Pecos,'' that their oral traditions 
indicate are references to inter-pueblo transfers or migrations that 
probably extend back into prehistoric times. Early Spanish records also 
document movement of residents between the Pecos Valley and the Pueblos 
of Jemez, Cochiti, and Santo Domingo, that had been occurring since 
sometime before the Spanish arrival in New Mexico. Scholars and 
community elders from these three pueblos contend that while the 
predominant language of the recipient pueblos was learned by new 
residents, traces of the immigrants' first language remain in the 
traditional stories and names at the integrating pueblos. This is most 
clearly apparent at the Pueblo of Jemez. Officials of the National Park 
Service relied upon archeological, ethnographic, historical literature, 
linguistic, geographic, ethnographic, and oral traditional evidence to 
determine the cultural affiliation of these human remains.
    Based on the above information, officials of the National Park 
Service have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human 
remains listed above represent the physical remains of 1 individual of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the National Park Service have 
also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a shared 
group identity that can be reasonably traced between these Native 
American human remains and the Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Cochiti, New Mexico; and Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico.
    In 1976, human remains representing one individual were recovered 
from an eroding bank located adjacent to three archeological sites 
during legally authorized excavations by the National Park Service. No 
known individuals were identified. No funerary objects were present.
    The remains were exhumed from their primary burial context. The 
three archeological sites are Forked Lightning Pueblo, LA14118, and 
LA14125, and their occupation dates range from AD 1175 to 1425. Datable 
objects from these three sites overlay the burial. A cultural resources 
inventory surface survey documents several ancestral plains and pueblo 
sites that were occupied during this time period, especially during its 
last century. The tipi rings, upright slab small structure, and 
diagnostic stone tools indicate that the plains sites are of Apache and 
Wichita ancestry. Consultation and an ethnographic overview have 
further identified the primary Apachean affiliates as the Jicarilla, 
Mescalero, and Apache Tribe of Oklahoma. When the Spanish arrived and 
made contact in 1540, they noted the presence of Wichita, someone from 
the then Florida area, and Kiowa in somewhat elite socio-political 
standing, in addition to the Apacheans. Historians continue to 
supplement evidence of these Plains tribes with one identifying the 
``Floridian'' as Pawnee but there is yet to be discovered another line 
of evidence to corroborate this or the presence of other Pawnee. The 
Kiowa connection ``to Pecos are as historically valid as those of the 
Comanches and Plains Apaches,'' according to the ethnographic overview. 
There is, however, no evidence to suggest that the Comanches were 
present earlier than 1700-1720. Comparatively, there is abundant 
information on the cultural connection with Santo Domingo, Cochiti, and 
Jemez, and to a lesser degree, Hopi. Emigrations from Pecos to the 
three former pueblos is cited in Kessell's and others' work and is 
corroborated by ethnographic findings and oral histories from each of 
the pueblos. There is at least one published reference to Hopi 
intermarriage at Pecos. Kidder's excavations recovered a substantial 
number of Hopi pottery pieces dating from the 1300-1600s. The percent 
of trade items and that which represent a deeper cultural connection is 
unclear. Officials of the National Park Service relied upon 
archeological, ethnographic, historical literature, geographic, and 
oral traditional evidence to determine the cultural affiliation of 
these human remains.
    Based upon the above mentioned information, officials of the 
National park service have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical remains 
of 1 individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the National 
Park Service have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), 
there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably

[[Page 13447]]

traced between these Native American human remains and the Pueblo of 
Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo or Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo 
Domingo, New Mexico; Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache Tribe 
of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New Mexico; Mescalero 
Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian 
Tribe of Oklahoma, Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, 
Waco, and Tawakonie), Oklahoma; and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona.
    In 1970, human remains representing four individuals were recovered 
from the 17th century Christian mission's cemetery during legally 
authorized excavations conducted by the National Park Service. No known 
individuals were identified. The thirty-six associated funerary objects 
associated with the four individuals are pendants and tubes made of 
golden eagle bone.
    The remains were exhumed from their primary burial context. The 
walls of the structure next to the cemetery were destroyed in 1680. The 
toppled walls overlay these burials and remained stratified in that 
arrangement until the 1970 excavations. The physical attributes of the 
crania identify the individuals as being of Native American ancestry. 
Friars assigned to the mission during this period inconsistently 
recorded daily life in journals and official records. Most of the 
journals are in foreign archives, have been researched to a limited 
extent, and produced up to this time no useful information on the 
cultural aspects of the Native American burials in the cemetery. No 
sacramental records have been found to date. Historians believe that 
the well known presence of the Comanche and the more tenuously 
confirmed connection with the Navajo does not occur until at least a 
full generation after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. For the purposes of 
identifying cultural affiliation, the conclusion is that the era 
between AD 1175 to 1450 continues with no new cultural groups 
represented through 1680. Officials of the National Park Service relied 
upon archeological, ethnographic, historical literature, linguistic, 
geographic, and oral traditional evidence to determine the cultural 
affiliation of these human remains and associated funerary objects.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the National 
Park Service have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the 
human remains listed above represent the physical remains of 4 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the National Park 
Service have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), the 
36 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 National 
Park Service 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 Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; Apache Tribe 
of Oklahoma, Jicarilla Apache Tribe of the Jicarilla Apache Indian 
Reservation, New Mexico; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero 
Reservation, New Mexico; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Wichita and Affiliated 
Tribes (Wichita, Kechi, Waco, and Tawakonie), Oklahoma; and the Kiowa 
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Apache Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Comanche Indian Tribe, Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache Tribe of 
the Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe 
of Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New 
Mexico; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation of New Mexico, Arizona, 
and Utah; Pawnee Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Juan, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Santo Domingo, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Tesuque, New Mexico; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; Pueblo of Zia, New 
Mexico; Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico; and the Wichita 
and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, and Tawakonie), Oklahoma. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribes that believe itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Duane L. Alire, Superintendent, Pecos National 
Historical Park, P.O. Box 418, Pecos, New Mexico 87552; telephone (505) 
757-6414, before [thirty days after publication in the Federal 
Register]. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache Tribe of the 
Jicarilla Apache Indian Reservation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New 
Mexico; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San 
Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Juan, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa 
Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo 
Domingo, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New 
Mexico; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico; and the Wichita and 
Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco, and Tawankonie), Oklahoma may 
begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
Dated: March 12, 1999.
Veletta Canouts,
Acting Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Deputy Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 99-6658 Filed 3-17-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F