[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 157 (Thursday, August 14, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48624-48625]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20755]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Northern Arizona, 
Flagstaff, AZ

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), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, 
AZ. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from 
an unidentified site in the Salt River area of central Arizona.
    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 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 Museum 
of Northern Arizona professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Ak-Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak 
Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the 
Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and California; Fort 
McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, 
California & Nevada; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River 
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pascua Yaqui Tribe 
of 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.
    At an unknown date, cremated human remains representing a minimum 
of one individual were removed from an unidentified site in the Salt 
River area of central Arizona. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were given to Mrs. Roslein Birdsell by a relative in 
1955 or 1956. No known individual was identified. The three associated 
funerary objects are a Casa Grande red-on-buff jar and two quartz 
crystals. A chalcedony projectile point that was originally associated 
with the human remains subsequently disappeared. In 2000, Mrs. Birdsell 
transferred control of the human remains and the three associated 
funerary objects to the Museum of Northern Arizona.
    Casa Grande red-on-buff pottery vessels generally date to A.D. 700-
900. Archeological evidence indicates that the Salt River area of 
central Arizona was occupied during the period A.D. 700-900 by the 
Hohokam people, for whom cremation was a common mortuary practice. 
Archeological, historical, and oral tradition evidence indicate that 
there is a relationship of shared group identity between the Hohokam 
people and the present-day Piman and O'odham cultures, represented by 
the Ak-Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin)

[[Page 48625]]

Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila 
River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham 
Nation of Arizona. Hopi and Zuni oral traditions also indicate that 
segments of the prehistoric Hohokam population migrated to areas 
occupied by the ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni and were assimilated 
into the resident populations.
    Officials of the Museum of Northern Arizona have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Museum of Northern Arizona also have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the three objects 
described above are reasonably believed to have been placed with the 
individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the 
death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of the Museum of Northern 
Arizona 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 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.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Elaine Hughes, Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 
North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, telephone (928) 774-5211, 
extension 228, before September 15, 2003. 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 proceed after that date 
if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Museum of Northern Arizona is responsible for notifying the Ak-
Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona and California; Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, 
Arizona; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California & Nevada; Gila 
River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pascua Yaqui Tribe of 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 that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 9, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-20755 Filed 8-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S