[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 131 (Wednesday, July 9, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41010-41011]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-17271]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of 
the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law 
Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.8 (f), of the 
intent to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of 
Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, that meet the definitions of sacred 
objects and cultural patrimony under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of 
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the 
cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    The 45 cultural items are 1 cougar foot; 1 small eagle feather; 2 
bundles of eagle feathers wrapped in cotton calico and kept in a 
leather pouch; 7 hair ties with eagle feathers; 1 gourd rattle; 8 
wooden talking prayer sticks with eagle feathers; 4 miniature bows with 
feathers; 4 carved wooden snakes; 2 stone talking sticks wrapped in 
colored yarn; 1 deerskin bag containing several bags of herbs and a 
memory aid; 1 deerskin bag containing several bags of herbs, stones, a 
bandolier adorned with eagle and hawk talons and toes from mammals, and 
reeds and sticks adorned with migratory bird feathers; 1 leather bag 
containing 2 talking prayer sticks with eagle and turkey feathers, and 
5 hair ties with eagle feathers; 1 bag containing stones, bags of 
herbs, and beads; 1 medicine bundle containing herbs; 1 bundle of 
rattles and talking prayer sticks; 2 stone axes or chamajillas; and 7 
bull-roarers.
    During 1999 and 2000, the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, 
participated in an undercover investigation of several individuals 
believed to be engaged in the illegal trafficking of Native American 
cultural items. Federal agents purchased or seized several cultural 
items as part of the investigation. On September 10, 2002, Joshua Baer 
and Thomas Cavaliere each pled guilty to three counts of illegal 
trafficking of Native American cultural items obtained in violation of 
18 U.S.C. 1170 (b). On January 3 and February 12, 2003, the U.S. 
District Court for the District of New Mexico ordered that all items 
seized during the investigation be forfeited to the U.S. Department of 
the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law 
Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, and repatriated to the culturally 
affiliated Indian tribes. The 45 cultural items are part of the items 
forfeited to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, prepared a summary 
of the cultural items obtained during the investigation. The U.S. 
Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of 
Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, also consulted with representatives 
of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & 
Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; and Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    Representatives of the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah 
identified all 45 cultural items as ceremonial objects needed for the 
practice of traditional Navajo religion by present-day adherents. They 
identified the seven bull-roarers as needed for practice of the Holy 
Way ceremony. They identified the two chamajillas as monster 
slayer's clubs that are part of a medicine man's bundle. 
They identified the hair ties as being worn during particular religious 
ceremonies such as the Holy Way. They identified the two bundles of 
eagle feathers as needed for the practice of the Holy Way ceremony. 
They identified the four

[[Page 41011]]

miniature bows with feathers as needed for the practice of the Holy Way 
ceremony. The representatives of the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico 
& Utah identified all 45 cultural items as the communal property of the 
tribe as a whole that could not be sold or given away by an individual.
    Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), the 45 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. Officials of the 
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office 
of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, have determined that, pursuant to 
25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), the 45 cultural items also have ongoing 
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native 
American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an 
individual. Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, also 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a 
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced 
between the 45 sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony and the 
Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the sacred objects/objects of cultural 
patrimony should contact Special Agent Lucinda D. Schroeder, U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, 4901 Paseo Del Norte, Albuquerque, NM 87113, 
telephone (505) 828-3064, before August 8, 2003. Repatriation of the 
sacred objects/objects of cultural patrimony to the Navajo Nation, 
Arizona, New Mexico & Utah may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, is responsible for 
notifying the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico 
& Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; and 
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: June 11, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-17271 Filed 7-8-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S