[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 230 (Monday, December 1, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67206-67208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29770]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office, 
Phoenix, 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 U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office, 
Phoenix, AZ. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from site AZ AA:6:19(ASM), in the Santa Cruz Flats, Pinal 
County, AZ.
    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 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 Bureau of 
Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office professional 
staff in consultation with representatives of the Ak Chin Indian 
Community of the Ak Chin Indian Reservation, Arizona; Chemehuevi Indian 
Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation, California; Cocopah Tribe of 
Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado 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; Pasqua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Quechan Tribe of 
the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & Arizona; Salt River 
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; 
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos

[[Page 67207]]

Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona (including the 
San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona); Tonto 
Apache Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache 
Reservation, 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.
    In 1987, human remains representing a minimum of six individuals 
were removed from site AZ AA:6:19(ASM) during legally authorized data 
recovery efforts undertaken by Northland Research, Inc., for the Bureau 
of Reclamation. The site is located in the Santa Cruz Flats, just north 
of the Silver Bell Mountains in Pinal County, AZ. No known individuals 
were identified. The 21 associated funerary objects are 1 ground stone 
fragment, 3 bags of chipped stone flakes, 3 bags of unworked faunal 
bone, 1 bag of unworked shell, 2 bags of worked shell (consisting of 
811 shell beads plus fragments), 3 radiocarbon samples, 2 flotation 
samples (in 5 bags), and 6 pollen samples.
    On the basis of archeological context, architectural, chronometric, 
and artifactual evidence, the site dates to the Late Archaic period 
(1500 B.C.- A.D. 1).
    Evidence provided by anthropological, archeological, biological, 
geographical, historical, kinship, linguistics, and oral tradition 
sources was considered in determining the cultural affiliation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects. Bureau of Reclamation, 
Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office officials have determined 
that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), the preponderance of the evidence 
suggests that a relationship of shared group identity can be traced 
between the historic O'odham groups, represented by the present-day 
Indian tribes of the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Ak Chin 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 (including the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona), and the prehistoric Late Archaic groups that occupied the 
Santa Cruz River valley and surrounding areas.
    There is a growing amount of archeological data that suggests a 
local continuum between Late Archaic populations and the Hohokam, a 
later prehistoric group with recognized affiliation to the O'odham. The 
cultural continuum is demonstrated by an increase in sedentism; 
establishment of pithouse settlements; adoption of agriculture; 
development of ceramic, ground stone, and shell manufacturing 
technology; and increased participation in nonlocal trade.
    The O'odham were well established along the rivers and in the 
deserts when the Spanish first arrived in northern Sonora and southern 
Arizona. Oral traditions tell of early groups that were present before 
the adoption of agriculture, and refer to the introduction of several 
cultivated crops. O'odham traditions are also deeply embedded in the 
geography of southern Arizona, with events taking place at specific 
landmarks within traditional O'odham lands. The O'odham consider the 
Hohokam and their predecessors to be O'odham ancestors. Although the 
O'odham belong to the same linguistic group (Piman) as communities in 
what is now northern Mexico, shared vocabulary and syntax with Yuman 
language groups along the Colorado River suggests a long-term history 
of interaction in what is now southern Arizona that stretches back into 
prehistoric times.
    Evidence suggests that the Hopi and Zuni are also culturally 
affiliated with the Hohokam and their predecessors. Their ancestors had 
trade relationships and other likely interactions with the Hohokam, 
similar to those found between groups in the early historic period. 
Hopi and Zuni oral traditions indicate that segments of the prehistoric 
Hohokam population migrated to the areas occupied by the Hopi and Zuni 
and were assimilated into the resident populations. A cultural 
continuum between Late Archaic groups in the Santa Cruz Valley and the 
later Hohokam suggests that the Hopi and Zuni are also affiliated with 
the Late Archaic populations.
    Officials of the Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, 
Phoenix Area Office have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(9-10), the human remains described above represent the physical 
remains of at least six individuals of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of the Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix 
Area Office also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(3)(A), the 21 objects described 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, officials of 
the Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office 
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 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 (including the San Xavier District of 
the 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 these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should contact Jon Czaplicki or Bruce Ellis, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office, P.O. Box 81169, Phoenix, AZ 85069-
1169, telephone (602) 216-3862, before December 31, 2003. Repatriation 
of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Ak Chin 
Indian Community of the 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 (including 
the San Xavier District of the 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 Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area 
Office is responsible for notifying the Ak Chin Indian Community of the 
Ak Chin Indian Reservation, Arizona; Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the 
Chemehuevi Reservation, California; Cocopah Tribe of Arizona; Colorado 
River Indian Tribes of the Colorado 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; 
Pasqua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian 
Reservation, California & Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; San Carlos Apache 
Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona (including the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona); Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe 
of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Apache Nation of the

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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: October 27, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-29770 Filed 11-28-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-50-S