[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 161 (Wednesday, August 20, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50181-50182]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21343]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: American Museum of Natural 
History, New York, NY

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 American Museum of Natural History, 
New York, NY. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from an undesignated ruined pueblo in Cibola or McKinley 
Counties, NM.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. (d)(3). The 
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the 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 and associated funerary 
objects was made by American Museum of Natural History professional 
staff in consultation with representatives of the Zuni Tribe of the 
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    In 1900, human remains representing a minimum of 17 individuals 
were removed by Dr. Ale[scaron] Hrdli[ccaron]ka from an undesignated 
ruined pueblo 9 miles southwest of Zuni pueblo, NM. No known 
individuals were identified. The two associated funerary objects are a 
Pinedale black-on-white ceramic bowl and a Heshota utla polychrome 
ceramic pitcher. The undesignated ruined pueblo site from which the 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed is believed 
to be on the Zuni Indian Reservation.
    Pinedale black-on-white and Heshota utla polychrome ceramics were 
produced during the Pueblo III and Pueblo IV periods, roughly between 
A.D. 1250 and A.D. 1450. The human remains probably were interred 
during that period. The human remains have been identified as Native 
American based on geographic and documentary evidence. The human 
remains were found in the pre- and postcontact territory of the Zuni 
people. Although there was some migration into this area between A.D. 
1175 and the Coronado entrada in A.D. 1540, the continuity of a core 
architectural and ceramic tradition during the time period in which 
these human remains were interred suggests an ethnic continuity in the 
area. Zuni oral history provides further evidence for the existence of 
a shared group identity between the past population represented by 
these human remains and associated funerary objects and the present-day 
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    Although the lands from which the human remains were removed are 
currently under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the 
Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the American Museum of Natural 
History has possession and control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects because their removal from tribal land predates the 
permit requirements established by the Antiquities Act of 1906.
    Officials of the American Museum of Natural History have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains listed above 
represent the physical remains of 17 individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the American Museum of Natural History also have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the two objects 
listed above are reasonably believed to have been placed with or

[[Page 50182]]

near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of 
the death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of the American Museum of 
Natural History 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 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 Luc Litwinionek, Director of Cultural Resources, 
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 
New York, NY 10024-5192, telephone (212) 769-5846, before September 19, 
2003. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
to the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The American Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying 
the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: July 24, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-21343 Filed 8-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S