[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 225 (Tuesday, November 23, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68173-68174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-25925]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

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 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, 
Cambridge, MA. The human remains were removed from the vicinity of 
Kayenta, Navajo 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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, 
Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; and Pueblo of 
Laguna, New Mexico.
    In 1916, human remains representing one individual were removed 
from a surface location near Kayenta, Navajo County, AZ, by Samuel 
Guernsey and John Wetherill. The human remains were donated to the 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University the 
same year. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Museum documentation describes the human remains as ``probably 
Navajo.'' The attribution of such a specific cultural affiliation to 
the human remains indicates that the interment postdates sustained 
contact between indigenous groups and Europeans beginning in the 17th 
century. Cranial morphology also supports that the human remains are of 
Navajo ancestry. Oral tradition and historic documentation support the 
conclusion that the geographic area of Kayenta falls within the 
historic homelands of the Navajo Nation. Based on this evidence, the 
age of the human remains and the occupation of the area by the Navajo 
Nation coincide.

[[Page 68174]]

    Officials of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 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 Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology 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 & Utah.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Patricia 
Capone, Repatriation Coordinator, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, 
telephone (617) 496-3702, before December 23, 2004. Repatriation of the 
human remains to the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is responsible for 
notifying the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico 
& Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; and Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 30, 2004
Sherry Hutt
Manager, National NAGPRA Program
[FR Doc. 04-25925 Filed 11-22-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S