[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 37 (Monday, February 25, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10051-10052]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3453]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: 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 possession 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.
    In 1958, cultural items were removed from a burial at the Mission 
San Xavier

[[Page 10052]]

del Bac site, AZ AA:16:10(ASM), Pima County, AZ, during legally 
authorized excavations conducted by the Department of Anthropology, 
University of Arizona, and Arizona State Museum under the direction of 
Bernard L. Fontana. The unassociated funerary objects were accessioned 
into the Museum's collections in 1959. The 100 unassociated funerary 
objects are shell beads.

    The site is on church owned property within the boundaries of the 
San Xavier Indian Reservation. Father Eusebio Kino visited the O'odham 
village of Bac in 1692 and established Mission San Xavier. He reported 
the presence of 800 inhabitants at the time of his first visit. The 
same population has continued to occupy the land in the vicinity of the 
mission throughout the historic period. The unassociated funerary 
objects removed from the Mission san Xavier del Bac site are from 
historic times. Cultural continuity between the prehistoric occupants 
of the region and present day O'odham and Pee-Posh is supported by 
continuities in settlement pattern, architectural technologies, 
basketry, textiles, ceramic technology, ritual practices, and oral 
traditions. The descendants of the historic O'odham and Pee-Posh are 
members 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; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham 
Nation of Arizona.
    Officials of the Arizona State Museum have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 100 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 an Native 
American individual. Officials of the 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; 
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.
    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 March 26, 2008. Repatriation of the unassociated 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; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham 
Nation of Arizona 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; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: December 19, 2007
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-3453 Filed 2-22-08; 8:45 am]
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