[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 1, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46944-46945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-19293]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession 
of Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, National Park Service, 
Coolidge, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.10 
(a)(3), of the intent to repatriate cultural items in the possession of 
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, National Park Service, Coolidge, 
AZ, that meet the definition of ``sacred object'' under Section 2 of 
the Act. This notice is published as part of the National Park 
Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2 
(c). The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility 
of the National Park unit that has control or possession of these 
Native American cultural items. The Assistant Director, Cultural 
Resources Stewardship and Partnerships, is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    The approximately 203 cultural items comprise an ethnographic 
collection utilized by the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona for the 
Vikita ceremony. These cultural items are mostly fashioned from wood, 
many are painted, and include: 5 staffs, 14 spears, 12 bows, 59 sticks, 
11 bullroarers, 50 prayersticks, 1 feather, 32 arrows, 1 mask, 1 kilt, 
1 garter, 1 jar, 1 hide, 1 bundle, 3 unidentified ceremonial objects, 7 
pieces of wood, 2 effigies, and 1 bundle with a feather. This 
collection of cultural items has been recorded in several 
anthropological documents as originating from the Tohono O'odham 
village of Santa Rosa and as having been used in the Vikita ceremony.
    During the summer of 1922 or 1923, a trader told Frank Pinkley and 
George Boundey that a large amount of old Tohono O'odham ceremonial 
materials were cached northeast of the village of Santa Rosa (Gu Achi). 
About a mile and a half from this village, Pinkley and Boundey located 
a brush enclosure. Within the immediate vicinity of this enclosure, 
Pinkley and Boundey found a number of cultural items. Some of these 
items were found under scrub mesquite bushes, while others were 
deposited in the branches of trees. Local Tohono O'odham individuals 
indicated that these cultural items were used as part of a Vikita 
ceremony.
    According to a 1937 article by Charles R. Steen, the dance at this 
enclosure was probably held in 1911. Several facts suggest that the 
Tohono O'odham intended that the ceremonial equipment collected by 
Pinkley and Boundey at the enclosure should only be used once, and that 
when the time for another ceremony arrived that a new enclosure and new 
ceremonial accoutrements for the ceremonies were to be prepared. The 
enclosure had not been kept in repair and had apparently seen no 
further use, the costumes and cultural items carried by the ceremony's 
participants had been discarded, and at least two Vikita ceremonies had 
been held since the 1911 Vikita event. Steen's article also noted that 
Tohono O'odham individuals expressed their satisfaction with the care 
the above-described cultural items received while in the possession of 
Pinkley.
    In 1940, Pinkley donated the previously described cultural items to 
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The cultural items were 
subsequently accessioned into the Monument's collection and are now 
stored at the Western Archeological and Conservation Center in Tucson, 
Arizona.
    On August 13, 1998, the National Park Service convened a 
consultation

[[Page 46945]]

meeting with approximately 45 members of the Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona, which included Tohono O'odham elders, religious leaders and 
the Cultural Affairs Manager. National Park Service representatives 
attending this meeting included the Superintendent of Casa Grande Ruins 
National Monument and the Repository Chief of the Western Archeological 
Conservation Center. After the consultants viewed the entire Vikita-
related collection, the Tohono O'odham representatives indicated that 
the above described cultural items were important ceremonial objects 
needed by traditional religious leaders for the practice of traditional 
Native American religions by their present-day adherents.
    According to documents received from the Tohono O'odham Nation's 
Cultural Affairs Office in June 2000, the above-described cultural 
items were never intended to leave the land where they were left, and 
Tohono O'odham religious leaders will determine how they will be used 
in the future.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, the Casa Grande Ruins 
National Monument Superintendent determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 
10.2 (d)(3), the approximately 203 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. The Casa Grande Ruins National Monument 
Superintendent 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 cultural items and the Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes 
itself to be culturally affiliated with these cultural items should 
contact Don Spencer, Superintendent, Casa Grande Ruins National 
Monument, 1100 Ruins Drive, Coolidge, AZ, 85228, telephone (520) 723-
3172, before August 31, 2000. Repatriation of these cultural items to 
the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona may begin after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: July 21, 2000.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 00-19293 Filed 7-31-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F