[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 136 (Friday, July 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42772-42773]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-16150]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 
Minneapolis, MN

AGENCY: National Park Service.

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 Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 
Minneapolis, MN. The human remains and associated funerary object were 
removed from Rillito, Pima 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 in 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 object. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

[[Page 42773]]

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Minneapolis 
Institute of Arts professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of 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; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.
    On an unknown date before 1942, cremated human remains representing 
a minimum of one individual and the vessel containing the human remains 
were removed from the ruins of a large Native American settlement in 
Rillito, Pima County, AZ, during excavations conducted by Ruth Vaughn 
of Tucson, AZ. According to museum documentation, Mrs. Vaughn presented 
the vessel containing the human remains to Ilma Dannels. In 1942, Mrs. 
Howard Martin gave the vessel and the human remains to the Walker Art 
Gallery in Minneapolis, MN. The Walker Art Gallery subsequently 
transferred ownership of the vessel and the human remains to the T.B. 
Walker Foundation, most likely in 1957, but kept physical custody of 
the vessel and the human remains until 1992, when the vessel and the 
human remains were donated to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. No 
known individual was identified. The one associated funerary object is 
a small olla-shaped, red-on-buff colored ceramic vessel that contained 
the cremated human remains.
    The archeological evidence, including attributes of ceramic style, 
domestic and ritual architecture, site organization, and settlement 
location, places the Rillito site within the archeologically defined 
Hohokam tradition. The style of the vessel and its use as a cremation 
urn are consistent with Hohokam cultural practices. The Hohokam resided 
in the area of the Rillito site from A.D. 300 to 1450 and are linked to 
the present-day 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; 
and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona by similarities in cultural 
practices and languages, continuity of occupation, and oral traditions.
    Officials of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts 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 Minneapolis Institute of Arts also 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the one object 
described above is 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 Minneapolis Institute 
of Arts 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 
object 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; 
and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.
    The Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona submitted a claim to the 
Minneapolis Institute of Arts for the repatriation of the human remains 
and associated funerary object. Repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary object to the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona is 
supported by 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; and Salt 
River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
object should contact Joseph Horse Capture, Associate Curator, 
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 
55404, telephone (612) 870-3175, before August 16, 2004. Repatriation 
of the human remains and associated funerary object to the Tohono 
O'odham Nation of Arizona may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is responsible for notifying 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; and Tohono 
O'odham Nation of Arizona that this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 7, 2004
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources
[FR Doc. 04-16150 Filed 7-15-04; 8:45 am]
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