[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 75 (Thursday, April 17, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 20948]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-8305]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office, Denver, CO, and 
Museum of Western Colorado, Grand Junction, 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 control of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State 
Office, Denver, CO. and in the possession of the Museum of Western 
Colorado, Grand Junction, CO. The human remains were removed from 
Garfield County, CO.
    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 the Bureau 
of Land Management, Smithsonian Institution, and Museum of Western 
Colorado professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah.
    In 1976, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from site 5GF344 in Garfield County, CO, by Mary Zang and 
Ed Carter. The human remains were collected from the surface of the 
site in an arroyo. The human remains were turned over to the Garfield 
County sheriff, who then contacted the Bureau of Land Management, as 
the human remains had been removed from Federal land. The human remains 
were then transferred to the Museum of Western Colorado for curation. 
No known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    In 1976, it was reported that a scaffold or platform was located in 
a tree in close proximity to the human remains. This scaffold or 
platform was never located. The field check of the site location 
provided no further details concerning the origin of the human remains. 
All parties concluded that the human remains had been carried down the 
drainage. In 1999, the human remains were studied by researchers at the 
Smithsonian Institution to determine if they were Native American. This 
analysis concluded that the human remains were Native American, based 
on cranial features and were consistent with other Ute crania 
identified from Utah and Colorado. In addition, near the location where 
the human remains were found is a concentration of Ute sites within 
approximately a five mile radius consisting of a Ute wickiup village 
and petroglyphs. This area is historically associated with the Uintah-
Ouray Ute Tribe. Descendants of the Uintah-Ouray Ute are members of the 
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah.
    Officials of the Bureau of Land Management 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 Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of Land Management 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 Ute Indian Tribe of 
the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Susan 
Thomas, NAGPRA Coordinator, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado, 27501 
Highway 184, Dolores, CO 81323, telephone (970) 882-5600, before May 
19, 2008. Repatriation of the human remains to the Ute Indian Tribe of 
the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for notifying the 
Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; 
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain 
of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: March 10, 2008.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-8305 Filed 4-16-08; 8:45 am]
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