[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 168 (Thursday, August 29, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55425-55426]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21999]



[[Page 55425]]

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

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 Colorado 
Historical Society, Denver, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 
3003 (d) and 43 CFR 10.9, of the completion of an inventory of human 
remains and associated funerary objects in the possession of the 
Colorado Historical Society, 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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by Colorado Historical Society professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of 
the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah 
& Ouray Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.
    On June 8-9, 1995, the remains of four individuals were removed 
from site 5FN1210, also known as the Coaldale-Fox burial or Office of 
Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) Burial Number 106. Site 
5FN1210 is located on private land near Coaldale in Fremont County, CO. 
Three of the human remains were originally discovered in disturbed fill 
dirt during the construction of a reservoir. The Fremont County 
Sheriff's department sent these three human remains to Dr. Michael 
Hoffman of Colorado College, who confirmed them to be Native American. 
OAHP staff subsequently excavated site 5FN1210 under a State of 
Colorado archaeological permit and recovered the remains of a fourth 
individual from a burial pit. Dr. Jim Wanner of the University of 
Northern Colorado confirmed that all four individuals were Native 
American. No known individuals were identified. The 12 associated 
funerary objects are 3 bone beads, 1 bone awl, 2 incised tubular bone 
beads, 3 pieces of animal bone, 1 rabbit bone treated with ocher, 1 
endscraper, and 1 flake.
    In November, 1995, the Colorado Historical Society completed an 
inventory of the human remains and associated funerary objects from 
5FN1210 as required by 25 U.S.C. 3003 (b)(1). At that time, officials 
of the Colorado Historical Society determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001 (9), the above-mentioned human remains represented four 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Colorado 
Historical Society also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(3), the 12 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. Finally, officials of the 
Colorado Historical Society determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(2), there was not sufficient evidence to trace a relationship of 
shared group identity between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects and any present-day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization. The Colorado Historical Society provided an inventory of 
these culturally unidentifiable human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Departmental Consulting Archeologist as required under 
43 CFR 10.9 (e)(6).
    Through ongoing consultations with Native American tribes, along 
with research conducted by the Colorado Historical Society, additional 
evidence regarding cultural affiliation of these human remains and 
associated funerary objects was identified. Based on stratigraphic and 
artifactual evidence, the remains and associated funerary objects of 
these four individuals are estimated to date approximately from 2,000 
to 500 years before present. The preponderance of the evidence, 
including archeology, ethnohistory, history, geography, and oral 
traditions, indicates that a relationship of shared group identity can 
be reasonably traced between these human remains and associated 
funerary objects and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute 
Reservation, Colorado. More specifically, in his 1996 concluding report 
on the site, Kevin Black reported contextual association of charcoal 
with the remains in the partially undisturbed burial pit. According to 
Southern Ute traditional historian Alden Naranjo, fires often 
accompanied Ute burial ceremonies. Mr. Naranjo notes that Ute mortuary 
practices were diverse and depended on seasonal, topographical, and 
environmental factors. Archeological evidence indicates that these 
persons were interred in a manner consistent with known Ute mortuary 
practices. Importantly, the discovery site lies within the well-
documented residential use areas of the Capote and Moache Ute bands. 
After the Ute agreement of 1880, the Capote and Moache bands were 
removed to southern Colorado and came to comprise, along with other Ute 
bands, what is now known as the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the Colorado 
Historical Society have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical remains 
of four individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the 
Colorado Historical Society also have determined that, pursuant to 43 
CFR 10.2 (d)(2), the 12 funerary 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, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), and in accordance with 25 U.S.C. 
3005 (a)(4), officials of the Colorado Historical Society have 
determined that there is a relationship of shared group identity that 
can be reasonably traced between these Native American human remains 
and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, 
Colorado.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Apache Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; 
Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the 
Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Comanche Indian Tribe, 
Oklahoma; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South 
Dakota; Crow Tribe of Montana; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; 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; Navajo Nation, 
Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine 
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Pawnee Nation 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 San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San 
Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Juan, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Sandia,

[[Page 55426]]

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; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; 
Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; 
Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Shoshone-Bannock 
Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho; Southern Ute Indian Tribe 
of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of 
North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold 
Reservation, North Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray 
Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, 
Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, 
Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma; 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 should contact Anne 
W. Bond, Director of Collections and Exhibitions, Colorado Historical 
Society, 1300 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203-2137, telephone (303) 866-
4691, before September 30, 2002. Repatriation of the human remains to 
the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, 
Colorado, may begin after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.

    Dated: August 1, 2002.
Robert Stearns,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-21999 Filed 8-28-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S