[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 175 (Monday, September 11, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 53473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-14934]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Colorado Museum, 
Boulder, 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 
University of Colorado Museum, Boulder, CO. The human remains were 
removed from San Miguel County, NM.
    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 University 
of Colorado Museum professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; 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 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.
    In 1939, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were removed from near Pecos Pueblo, San Miguel County, NM, by an 
unknown individual. The human remains were donated to the University of 
Colorado Museum by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography 
(Peabody Museum), Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and cataloged into 
museum collections (Catalog numbers 6273-1, 6273-2, and 6274). No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Based on proximity to Pecos Pueblo and analysis by the Peabody 
Museum, the human remains are Native American. Based on the ceramic 
types and architecture, Pecos Pueblo was occupied from approximately 
A.D. 1100-1700. Historic records document occupation at the site until 
approximately A.D. 1838 when the last inhabitants left the Pecos Pueblo 
and moved to the Pueblo of Jemez.
    In 1936, an Act of Congress recognized the Pueblo of Jemez as a 
``consolidation'' and ``merger'' of the Pecos Pueblo and Pueblo of 
Jemez. All property, rights, titles, interests, and claims of both 
Pueblos were consolidated under the Pueblo of Jemez. Additional 
evidence supporting a shared group identity between the descendants of 
the Pecos and Jemez pueblos emerges in numerous aspects of present-day 
Jemez life and are documented in a 1992-1993 study, entitled ``Pecos 
Ethnographic Project.'' Furthermore, during consultation, official 
representatives of the Pueblo of Jemez provided oral testimony 
supporting a shared group identity between the two pueblos. Based on 
archeological, historical documents, Federal legislation, consultation, 
and ethnographic evidence the descendants of the Pecos Pueblo are 
members of the Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico.
    Officials of the University of Colorado Museum 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 University of Colorado 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 Pueblo of Jemez, New 
Mexico.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Steve 
Lekson, Curator of Anthropology, University of Colorado Museum, 
Henderson Building, Campus Box 218, Boulder, CO 80309-0218, telephone 
(303) 492-6671, before October 11, 2006. Repatriation of the human 
remains to the Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico may proceed after that date 
if no additional claimants come forward.
    University of Colorado Museum is responsible for notifying the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; 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 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: August 23, 2006
C. Timothy McKeown,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-14934 Filed 9-8-06; 8:45 am]
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