[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5366-5367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1270]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Fort Collins Museum, Fort 
Collins, CO

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 
Fort Collins Museum, Fort Collins, CO. The human remains were most 
likely removed from Death Valley, Inyo County, CA.
    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 Fort Collins 
Museum professional staff in consultation with physical and forensic 
anthropologists and representatives of the Big Pine Band of Owens 
Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation, California; 
Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of California; Duckwater Shoshone 
Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation, Nevada; Fort Independence Indian 
Community of

[[Page 5367]]

Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence Reservation, California; 
Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony, 
California; and Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of 
the Lone Pine Reservation, California.

    On March 25, 1953, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were donated to the Fort Collins Museum, by Carl W. Swanson 
of Greeley, CO. Although the specific provenience of the human remains 
is unknown, according to museum records, Mr. Swanson stated at the time 
of his donation, that the skull was a ``Skull from Death Valley, 
California.'' In April 1999, Dr. Ann Magennis, Professor of 
Anthropology at Colorado State University, documented that the skull 
and the cranial morphology indicate that the human remains are most 
probably of Native American descent. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Death Valley, CA, is within the traditional territory of the Paiute 
and Shoshone people. Furthermore, supporting osteological evidence, 
oral traditions, archeological and ethnographic research, and 
ethnohistoric documents support a cultural affiliation of the human 
remains to the Paiute and Shoshone tribes. Descendants of the Paiute 
and Shoshone from the Death Valley area are members of the Big Pine 
Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine 
Reservation, California; Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of 
California; Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation, 
Nevada; Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the 
Fort Independence Reservation, California; Paiute-Shoshone Indians of 
the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony, California; and Paiute-
Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of the Lone Pine 
Reservation, California.
    Officials of the Fort Collins Museum 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 probable Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Fort Collins Museum 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 Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute 
Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation, California; Death Valley 
Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of California; Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the 
Duckwater Reservation, Nevada; Fort Independence Indian Community of 
Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence Reservation, California; 
Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony, 
California; and Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Community of 
the Lone Pine Reservation, California.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Dr. 
Brenda Martin, NAGPRA Coordinator, Fort Collins Museum, 200 Mathews 
Street, Fort Collins, CO 80524, telephone (970) 416-2720, before March 
3, 2006. Repatriation of the human remain to the Death Valley Timbi-Sha 
Shoshone Band of California may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward. The Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone 
Band of California is acting as the representative for the other 
culturally affiliated tribes in matters of repatriation of human 
remains with a relationship to Death Valley, Inyo County, CA.
    The Fort Collins Museum is responsible for notifying the Big Pine 
Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine 
Reservation, California; Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi 
Reservation, California; Death Valley Timbi-Sha Shoshone Band of 
California; Duckwater Shoshone Tribe of the Duckwater Reservation, 
Nevada; Ely Shoshone Tribe of Nevada; Fort Independence Indian 
Community of Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence Reservation, 
California; Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians of the Las Vegas Indian 
Colony, Nevada; Moapa Band of Paiute Indians of the Moapa River Indian 
Reservation, Nevada; Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of 
the Bishop Colony, California; Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine 
Community of the Lone Pine Reservation, California; Paiute-Shoshone 
Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony, Nevada; Pyramid Lake Paiute 
Tribe of the Pyramid Lake Reservation, Nevada; Reno-Sparks Indian 
Colony, Nevada; Walker River Paiute Tribe of the Walker River 
Reservation, Nevada; Yerington Paiute Tribe of the Yerington Colony & 
Campbell Ranch, Nevada; and Yomba Shoshone Tribe of the Yomba 
Reservation, Nevada that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 19, 2005.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-1270 Filed 1-31-06; 8:45 am]
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