[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 45 (Thursday, March 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12207-12209]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4327]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: 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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the University of 
Colorado Museum, Boulder, CO, that meets 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

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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.
    Between 1954 and 1990, human remains were removed from three sites 
near Yellow Jacket Pueblo (5MT1, 5MT2, and 5MT3), Montezuma County, CO, 
during legally conducted excavations from private land by Dr. Joe Ben 
Wheat and students participating in University of Colorado Museum 
sponsored archeological field schools. The excavated items were 
physically transferred to the museum at the end of each field season. 
The human remains and associated funerary objects were described in a 
Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register of 
Monday, September 11, 2006 (FR Doc E6-14933, pages 53470-53473). The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were repatriated. After 
repatriation, 13 cultural items were found in collection storage. The 
13 cultural items are 2 ceramic vessels and 11 lots of sherds. The 11 
lots of sherds share catalog numbers with reconstructed vessels 
previously repatriated.
    Previously identified unassociated funerary objects from the Yellow 
Jacket Pueblo were also described in a Notice of Intent to Repatriate 
published in the Federal Register of Thursday, March 15, 2007 (FR Doc 
E7-4733, pages 12192-12193). The cultural items from the notice of 
March 15, 2007, have been repatriated. An additional 28 cultural items 
from the Yellow Jacket Pueblo site were found during a collections 
management project that culminated in January 2008.
    Three cultural items found in collections are reasonably believed 
to have been removed from the Yellow Jacket Pueblo site (5MT5), 
Montezuma County, CO, by Horace (Hod) Benjamin Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson 
donated the cultural items to the University of Colorado Museum in May 
1954. The three cultural items are two ceramic vessels and one awl.
    The remaining 25 cultural items found in collections are reasonably 
believed to have been removed from the Yellow Jacket Pueblo site 
(5MT5), Montezuma County, CO by Gervis W. Hoofnagle, on an unknown 
date, prior to 1959 and most likely in the 1930s. The University of 
Colorado Museum purchased some cultural items from Mr. Hoofnagle's 
widow in 1961 and she donated additional cultural items to the museum 
in 1971. The 25 cultural items are 19 ceramic vessels some of which 
have black-on-white designs; 1 shell pendant; 1 axe, 1 lot of bone 
tubes; and 3 lots of bone tools.
    The three habitation sites (5MT1, 5MT2, and 5MT3), identified on 
the National Register of Historic Places as the Joe Ben Wheat Site 
Complex, are at the head of Yellow Jacket Canyon to the west of Tatum 
Draw and southwest of the very large archeological site, Yellow Jacket 
Pueblo (5MT5). The Yellow Jacket burials were predominantly single 
interments, appearing in a wide variety of locations, including 
abandoned rooms and kivas, storage pits, subfloor burial pits, 
extramural burial pits, and middens. The habitation sites were occupied 
at various times during the Basketmaker III, Pueblo II, and Pueblo III 
periods, approximately A.D. 550-1250, with a temporary abandonment 
during the Pueblo I period, approximately A.D. 750-900. Based on the 
general continuity in the material culture and the architecture of 
these sites, it appears that the community that lived in this area had 
long-standing ties to the region and returned to sites even after 
migrations away from the locale that lasted more than one hundred 
years. However, by the late 13th century, both the Yellow Jacket sites 
and the nearby Mesa Verde region showed no evidence of human 
habitation. The sites are not used again until the 1920s when the 
locale was homesteaded and farmed. The archeological evidence supports 
identification with Basketmaker and later Pueblo (Hisatsinom, Ancestral 
Puebloan, or Anasazi) cultures, which prehistorically occupied 
southwestern Colorado. Both Basketmaker and Pueblo occupations are 
represented in the archeology at the Yellow Jacket site. Archeologists 
have noted in the scientific literature the striking similarity between 
the technology and style of material culture of 13th century 
archeological sites in southwestern Colorado and the material culture 
remains of 14th century Puebloan sites in Arizona and New Mexico. Oral-
tradition evidence, which consists of migration stories, clan 
histories, and origin stories, was provided by representatives of the 
Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Ohkay 
Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of San Juan); Pueblo of Acoma, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Ysleta del 
Sur, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico. Folkloric evidence in the form of songs was 
provided by tribal representatives of the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Nambe, New Mexico; and Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico. Tribal 
representatives of the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; and Pueblo of Taos, 
New Mexico provided linguistic evidence rooted in place names. Pueblo 
of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San 
Ildefonso, New Mexico; and Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico provided 
archeological evidence based on architecture and material culture of 
their shared relationship. Archeological, historical and linguistic 
evidence presently points to Navajo migration to the Yellow Jacket and 
Monument Ruin area after A.D. 1300. During consultation, the Navajo 
Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah emphasized their long presence in 
the Four Corners and their origin in this area, but there is not a 
preponderance of the evidence to support Navajo cultural affiliation. 
Based on a preponderance of evidence, including oral tradition, 
folklore, linguistic, geographic, archeology, historical, and 
scientific studies, cultural affiliation can be traced between the 
cultural items and modern Puebloan peoples. Modern Puebloan peoples are 
members of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico 
(formerly the Pueblo of San Juan); 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 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; 
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico.
    Officials of the University of Colorado Museum have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 41 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

[[Page 12209]]

the death rite or ceremony. 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 associated 
funerary objects and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Ohkay Owingeh, New 
Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of San Juan); 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 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; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; 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 Steve Lekson, Curator of Anthropology, University of Colorado 
Museum, Henderson Building, Campus Box 218, Boulder, CO 80309-0218, 
telephone (303) 492-6671, before April 7, 2008. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Ohkay 
Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of San Juan); 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 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; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and 
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 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; Ohkay 
Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of San Juan); 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 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: February 7, 2008.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-4327 Filed 3-5-08; 8:45 am]
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