[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 204 (Wednesday, October 22, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60412-60413]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-26581]


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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 in the possession of the 
American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY. The human remains 
were removed from Rio Arriba County, NM.
    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 
Native American human remains. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by American 
Museum of Natural History professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
    In 1945, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed by Edward T. Hall, Jr., from a site in the Gobernador area 
of Rio Arriba County, NM. The human remains were discovered on the 
surface, apparently washed out of a canyon wall rock burial. The human 
remains were accessioned by the American Museum of Natural History in 
1945. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    The American Museum of Natural History catalog description 
identifies the human remains as ``probably Navajo.'' Scholarly 
publications and consultation with representatives of the Navajo 
Nation, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah indicate that canyon wall rock 
burials were a typical Navajo practice during the historic period. Oral 
tradition and archeological and historical evidence confirm that the 
Gobernador area of Rio Arriba County, NM, was

[[Page 60413]]

occupied by the Navajo during the early historic period.
    Officials of the American Museum of Natural History 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 American Museum of Natural History 
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 Native American human remains and the Navajo Nation, 
Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains 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 November 21, 2003. Repatriation of the 
human remains to the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The American Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying 
the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: August 19, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-26581 Filed 10-21-03; 8:45 am]
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