[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44688-44689]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15317]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ajo, 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 in the possession of the 
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Organ Pipe 
Cactus National Monument, Ajo, AZ. The human remains were removed from 
a vandalized cremation burial near Dripping Spring in the Puerto Blanco 
Mountains, 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 within this notice are the sole responsibility of 
the superintendent, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Organ Pipe 
Cactus National Monument professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the 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; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico. The Ak-Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa 
(Ak-Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona was represented by members of the 
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Arizona.
    In 1967, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from a site in Pima County, AZ. A National Park Service 
employee collected burned and fragmented human remains from a 
vandalized cremation burial near Dripping Springs in the Puerto Blanco 
Mountains of Arizona. The fragments were recovered from the surface of 
a pit-like depression at the base of a natural wall-like outcrop on a 
ridge top. Since collection, the human remains have always been in 
National Park Service control. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    The cremation represents an adult of unknown sex. Based on the 
burial type and location, as well as available archeological and 
historical information, it is likely that the remains are Native 
American. Cremations are characteristic of prehistoric Hohokam funerary 
practices in this region. During consultation, representatives from the 
above mentioned tribes stated that their oral traditions say they are 
culturally affiliated with the Hohokam. The ethnographic, 
archeological, and historical evidence supports their claim of cultural 
affiliation.
    Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is located in the western 
Papagueria of the Sonora Desert Subsection of the Basin and Range 
Province. The Papagueria is an area that extended from west of Tucson, 
AZ to the Colorado River and south of the Gila River to the Rocky Point 
Region. It is further subdivided, based on archeology and climate, into 
the eastern and western Papagueria. The western Papagueria is the most 
arid portion of the Sonoran Desert and ranges from south of the Gila 
River to Rocky Point and from the Ajo Mountains to the Colorado River.
    The Akimel O'odham (Pima), Tohono O'odham and the Hia-Ced O'odham 
claim to be the descendants of the Hohokam. Their oral history 
documents the end time of the Hohokam, when armies from the south and 
southeast gathered and marched on the Great House communities (Casa 
Grande, Mesa Grande, Pueblo Grande) and cast out the priestly 
societies. The armies intermarried with the Hohokam and became the 
O'odham people. The Ak-Chin Indian Community is composed primarily of 
Akimel and Tohono O'odham, and a few families of Hia-Ced O'odham. The 
Gila River Indian Community and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Community 
are both composed of Akimel O'odham along with small populations of 
Maricopa who moved from the central portion of the Gila River around 
Gila Bend to join

[[Page 44689]]

Akimel O'odham population living along the Salt and Gila Rivers.
    Oral history and the archeological record also support the claim by 
the Zuni and Hopi that some clans originated in the Salt-Gila region 
and were originally Hohokam.
    Hopi history is based, in large part, in clan migration narratives. 
The Hopi consider all of Arizona to be within traditional Hopi lands, 
i.e. areas to which Hopi clans are believed to have migrated in the 
past. Some Hopi clans trace their inception to a place believed to be 
near the Valley of Mexico, other clans originated in Central and South 
America, and others in what is now the eastern United States. Clans 
that moved out of central Mexico migrated north and settled for a time 
in the Gila and Salt River Valleys. Hopi cultural advisors have 
indicated that the western Papagueria was one of many migration routes 
used by the clans.
    There is also a resemblance between Hopi ceremonies and those of 
the O'odham, in particular the Tohono O'odham. Teague (1993:447-448) 
has noted the similarities of the O'odham Wi'ikita ceremony and the 
Hopi Wuwtsin (Ancient's Society) and on the connections with the 
Paalolokangw (Plumed Water Serpent) and the Kwaakwant (Agave Society). 
Underhill (1946) also drew clear links between the O'odham Wi'ikita 
ceremony and Hopi and other pueblo ceremonies. According to Amadeo Rea 
(1997) the Akimel O'odham (Pima) Navichu ceremony bears all the 
earmarks of the Hopi katchine cult.
    The claims of the Zuni Tribe, the A:shiwi People, are based on oral 
history of ancestral migrations and settling throughout this region in 
their search for the Middle Place of the World (present day Pueblo of 
Zuni). A:shiwi elders have observed and identified features, including 
shrines, and petroglyphs in the western Papagueria that are affiliated 
with the A:shiwi. The A:shiwi trace their migration from the origin 
point in the Grand Canyon. The ancestors embarked from this point and 
left many markers of the passing. These include trails, habitation 
sites, campsites, burials, sacred shrines, rock art, and other shrines 
that mark specific events. Pilgrimage and trade routes to collect 
shells and ocean water are known to pass through the Western 
Papagueria.
    Officials of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described 
above represent the physical remains of at least one individual of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of Organ Pipe Cactus National 
Monument 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 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; 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 the human remains should contact Kathy 
Billings, superintendent, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 10 Organ 
Pipe Drive, Ajo, AZ 85321, telephone (520) 387-6849, ext. 7500, before 
September 2, 2005. Repatriation of the human remains to 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; 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.
    Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is responsible for notifying 
the 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; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 29, 2005
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program
[FR Doc. 05-15317 Filed 8-2-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S