[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 245 (Wednesday, December 22, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76780-76781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-28005]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: The Colorado College, Colorado 
Springs, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 
Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO. The human remains were removed 
from Rio Grande County and Saguache Counties, CO.
    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 Colorado 
College professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Mescalero Apache 
Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Navajo Nation, Arizona, 
New Mexico & Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San 
Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of San 
Juan, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern 
Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray 
Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, 
Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    On March 11, 1981, human remains representing one individual were 
discovered during a construction project 1.2 miles east of Del Norte, 
Rio Grande County, CO. The county coroner determined that the human 
remains were not of forensic significance and transferred the human 
remains to The Colorado College. The human remains were curated from 
1981 until 1989 in the Anthropology Department Archaeology Laboratory 
in Palmer Hall. In 1989 the human remains were moved to the Biological 
Anthropology Classroom/Laboratory of Barnes Science Center. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    On September 2, 1981, human remains representing two individuals 
were discovered in Saguache County, CO. The county coroner determined 
that the human remains were not of forensic significance and 
transferred the human remains to the State archeologist, who 
transferred the human remains to The Colorado College. The human 
remains were curated from 1981 until 1989 in the Anthropology 
Department Archaeology Laboratory in Palmer Hall. In 1989, the human 
remains were moved to the Biological Anthropology Classroom/Laboratory 
of Barnes Science Center. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    A physical anthropological assessment of the human remains resulted 
in a determination that the individuals are most likely Native American 
based on cranial morphology. The Colorado Office of Archaeology and 
Historic Preservation map ``Estimated Tribal Territories in Colorado 
During the Late Nineteenth Century,'' establishes the presence of the 
Apache, Navajo, Pueblo groups, and the Ute in Rio Grande and Saguache 
Counties at that time. The Southern Ute Indian tribe map ``Original Ute 
Domain'' includes Rio Grande County and Saguache County as a part of 
the original domain of the Ute; another map of the Southern Ute Indian 
tribe ``Ute Territory of 1868'' includes these counties in Southern Ute 
territory. The map ``Early Indian Tribes, Culture Areas, and Linguistic 
Stocks'' (W. Sturtevant, Smithsonian Institution, 1967) shows the 
presence of the Ute and the Jicarilla Apache in Rio Grande and Saguache 
Counties at the time of contact with Europeans. Tribal oral tradition 
supports the presence of the Eastern Apache, Ute, Puebloans, and Navajo 
peoples in Rio Grande and Saguache Counties.
    Officials of The Colorado College have determined that, pursuant to 
25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of The Colorado College also have determined that, pursuant 
to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), a relationship of shared group identity cannot 
reasonably be traced between the human remains and any present-day 
Indian tribe.
    According to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation 
Review Committee's charter, the Review Committee is responsible for 
recommending specific actions for disposition of culturally 
unidentifiable human remains. In May 2004, the Southern Ute Indian 
Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado submitted a request to 
The Colorado College for repatriation of the culturally unidentifiable 
human remains. In August 2004, The Colorado College requested that the 
Review Committee make a recommendation regarding the disposition of the 
remains of three culturally unidentifiable human remains to the 
Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado and 
to any other Indian tribe that also requested repatriation prior to the 
Review Committee meeting. The Review Committee considered the proposal 
at its September 2004 meeting in Washington, DC, and recommended 
repatriation of the human remains to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of 
the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado. A September 21, 2004, letter 
from the Designated Federal Officer, on behalf of the interim chair of 
the Review Committee, to The Colorado College transmitted the Review 
Committee's recommendation that the museum repatriate the culturally 
unidentifiable human remains to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Joyce 
Eastburg, Legal Assistant, The Colorado College, 14 East Cache La 
Poudre Street, Colorado

[[Page 76781]]

Springs, Colorado 80903, telephone (719) 389-6703, before January 21, 
2005. Repatriation of the human remains to the Southern Ute Indian 
Tribe of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, Colorado may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Colorado College is responsible for notifying the Apache Tribe 
of Oklahoma; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; 
Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the 
Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & 
Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Juan, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Zia, New Mexico; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute 
Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray 
Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, 
Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: November 12, 2004
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 04-28005 Filed 12-21-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S