[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 49 (Tuesday, March 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13164-13165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-3556]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, 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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the control of the U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the 
physical custody of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, 
Tucson, AZ, that meet the definition of ``unassociated funerary 
objects'' under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    The 113 cultural items are 38 ceramic bowl fragments, 7 ceramic 
bowls, 3 ceramic jars, 1 ceramic plate, 11 ceramic vessels, 1 stone 
ring, 9 projectile points, 41 shell and stone beads, 1 stone palette 
fragment, and 1 stone pendant.
    A detailed assessment of the cultural items was made by Bureau of 
Indian Affairs and Arizona State Museum 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; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico has withdrawn from this consultation. The Gila 
River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona is 
acting on behalf of the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak 
Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham 
Nation of Arizona; and themselves.
    On unknown dates between 1931 and 1934, 43 cultural items were 
removed from cremation features at an unknown site in the vicinity of 
Sacaton (AZ U:14:--), Gila River Indian Reservation, Pinal County, AZ, 
by Carl A. Moosberg. The cultural items are 1 stone pendant, 1 ceramic 
bowl, and 41 shell and stone beads. In 1935, the 43 cultural items were 
donated to the Arizona State Museum by Mr. Moosberg. In 1953, the 43 
cultural items were sent to the Chicago Natural History Museum (now the 
Field Museum of Natural History) as part of an exchange. In 2005, the 
Field Museum returned the cultural items to the Arizona State Museum.
    Based on characteristics of the mortuary pattern and the attributes 
of the ceramic style, the cultural items from AZ U:14:-- have been 
identified as being associated with the Hohokam archeological 
tradition, which spanned the years circa A.D. 500-1350/1400.
    In 1934 to 1935, 70 cultural items were removed during legally 
authorized archeological excavations conducted by the Gila Pueblo 
Foundation of Arizona, at the Snaketown site (AZ U:13:1 ASM), on the 
Gila River Indian Reservation, Pinal County, AZ. The cultural items are 
1 ceramic plate, 6 ceramic bowls, 3 ceramic jars, 11 ceramic vessels, 
38 ceramic bowl fragments, 1 stone ring, 1 stone palette fragment, and 
9 projectile points. At an unknown date prior to 1950, the Gila Pueblo 
Foundation sent the stone ring and the 9 projectile points to the Field 
Museum of Natural History as part of an exchange. In 1950, the Arizona 
State Museum assumed repository responsibilities for the earlier Gila 
Pueblo Foundation collections. In 1953, the Arizona State Museum sent 
the ceramic plate, 6 ceramic bowls, 3 ceramic jars, 11 ceramic vessels, 
and 38 ceramic bowl fragments to the Chicago Natural History Museum as 
part of an exchange. In 2005, the Field Museum of Natural History 
returned the 69 cultural items to the Arizona State Museum. In 2005, 
the stone palette fragment was found in the museum collections of the 
Arizona State Museum. Other unassociated funerary objects from this 
site were published in two Notices of Intent to Repatriate in the 
Federal Register on March 20, 2001 (FR Doc. 01-6897, pages 15741-42), 
and December 22, 2004 (FR Doc. 04-27999, pages 76779-80).
    The archeological evidence, including characteristics of portable 
material culture, attributes of ceramic styles, domestic and ritual 
architecture, site organization, and canal-based agriculture of the 
settlement places the Snaketown site within the archeologically-defined 
Hohokam tradition, and within the Phoenix Basin local variant of that 
tradition. The occupation of the Snaketown site spans the years circa 
A.D. 500/700-1100/1150.
    Continuities of mortuary practices, ethnographic materials, and 
technology indicate affiliation of Hohokam settlements with present-day 
O'odham (Piman), Pee Posh (Maricopa), and Puebloan cultures. Oral 
traditions documented for 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 support affiliation with Hohokam sites in 
central Arizona.
    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Arizona State Museum 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 113 
cultural items described above are 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 and are believed, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from a specific 
burial site of a Native American individual. Officials of the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs and Arizona State 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 unassociated 
funerary objects 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 unassociated funerary objects should 
contact John Madsen, Repatriation Coordinator, Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 621- 4795, 
before April 13, 2006. Repatriation of the unassociated

[[Page 13165]]

funerary objects 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.
    The Arizona State Museum 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; Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 10, 2006
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-3556 Filed 3-13-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S