[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 214 (Monday, November 5, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55957-55958]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27703]


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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 University of 
Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology, Denver, 
CO

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 University of Denver 
Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO.
    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 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of these Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within this 
notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of 
Anthropology professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Cocopah Tribe of Arizona; Colorado River Indian 
Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and 
California; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai Reservation, 
Arizona; Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Pueblo 
of Laguna, New Mexico; Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian 
Reservation, California & Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona; Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai Reservation, Arizona; 
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    Around 1925, human remains representing one individual were 
recovered from the Hill Ruin, Maricopa County or Pinal County, AZ, by 
archeologist Frank Midvale. At an unknown date, the remains were 
transferred to Fallis F. Rees, who donated them to the University of 
Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology in 1967. 
No known individual was identified. The 311 associated funerary objects 
are 1 Sacaton Red-on-Buff bowl, 1 Sacaton Red-on-Buff bowl fragment, 
284 Sacaton phase and Santa Cruz phase projectile points, and 25 shell 
beads.
    The burial is a cremation. The Hill Ruin is located 10 miles 
southwest of Phoenix, AZ, and has been identified as a Hohokam 
settlement based on the artifacts. The funerary objects can be dated to 
the Santa Cruz phase (A.D. 800-1000) and the Sacaton phase (A.D. 1000-
1200) of the Hohokam sequence.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were recovered from an unknown site in the Gila Plain, 
Maricopa County or Pinal County, AZ, by an unknown person. The remains 
were cremated and are in fragmentary condition, which makes an accurate 
determination of the number of individuals impossible. At an unknown 
date, the remains came into the possession of Fallis F. Rees, who 
donated the remains to the University of Denver Department of 
Anthropology and Museum of Anthropology in 1967. No known individual 
was identified. The 209 associated funerary objects are 1 plainware 
``cremation'' bowl, 1 ``cremation'' olla, 2 buff ceramic rim sherds, 1 
piece of cut and decorated mica, 1 shell fragment, 1 possible shell 
bracelet, and 202 nonhuman bone fragments, some of which may be bird 
bones.
    Indian tribes occupying the Gila Plain have been identified as 
culturally affiliated with the Hohokam. Continuity of mortuary 
practices, ethnographic materials, and technology indicate an 
affiliation between ancient Hohokam settlements and present-day O'odham 
(Piman), Pee Posh (Maricopa), and Puebloan cultures. The Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona and the Pueblo of Zuni provided written testimony affirming 
cultural affiliation with Hohokam. Archeological and ethnohistorical 
evidence also were used to determine cultural affiliation.
    Hohokam culture spans approximately 300 B.C.-A.D. 1400 in the 
semiarid region of what is now central and southern Arizona, largely 
along the Gila and Salt Rivers. The culture is customarily divided into 
four developmental periods: Pioneer (circa 300 B.C.-A.D. 500), Colonial 
(A.D. 500-900), Sedentary (A.D. 900-1100), and Classic (A.D. 1100-
1400).
    During the Pioneer period, the Hohokam people lived in villages 
composed of widely scattered, individually built structures of wood, 
brush, and clay, each built over a shallow pit. They depended on the 
cultivation of corn (maize), supplemented by the gathering of wild 
beans and fruits and some hunting. Although floodwater irrigation may 
have been practiced, it was during this period that the first 
irrigation canal was built, a 3-mile-long channel in the Gila River 
valley that directed river water to the fields. Eventually, the Hohokam 
people developed complex canal networks. During this early period they 
also developed several varieties of pottery.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the 
University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of 
Anthropology have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the 
human remains listed above represent the physical remains of a minimum 
of two individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the 
University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of 
Anthropology also have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), 
the 502 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 
University of Denver Department of Anthropology and Museum of 
Anthropology have 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 associated 
funerary objects and the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak 
Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the 
Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt 
River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, 
Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Ak Chin Indian 
Community of the

[[Page 55958]]

Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Cocopah Tribe of 
Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona and California; Gila River Indian Community of the 
Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Havasupai Tribe of the 
Havasupai Reservation, Arizona; Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai 
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pascua Yaqui Tribe 
of Arizona; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Quechan Tribe of the Fort 
Yuma Indian Reservation, California & Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa 
Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham 
Nation of Arizona; Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai 
Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself 
to be culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should contact Jan I. Bernstein, Collections Manager 
and NAGPRA Coordinator, University of Denver Department of Anthropology 
and Museum of Anthropology, 2000 Asbury, Sturm Hall S-146, Denver, CO 
80208-2406, e-mail [email protected], telephone (303) 871-2543, before 
December 5, 2001. Repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak 
Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the 
Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt 
River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, 
Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico may begin after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.

    Dated: August 31, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-27703 Filed 11-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S