[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 250 (Tuesday, December 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79905-79906]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30892]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/
Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM and 
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 
NM

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 and associated funerary 
objects in the control of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/
Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM. Some of 
the human remains are housed at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, 
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, and some of the human 
remains and all the associated funerary objects are housed at the 
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of 
New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM. The human remains were removed from Sandoval 
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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Maxwell 
Museum of Anthropology and the New Mexico Office of Archaeological 
Studies professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico.
    Between 1928-1932, human remains representing a minimum of 21 
individuals were removed from the Unshagi site (LA 123), Sandoval 
County, NM, during excavations by joint

[[Page 79906]]

University of New Mexico/School of American Research field schools. The 
human remains have been on loan to the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology 
from the Museum of New Mexico since 1973 (MMA73.138.1 to 3; 
73.138.5 to 19; 73.138.21 to 23). No known 
individuals were identified. The one associated funerary object is a 
Jemez black-on-white bowl.
    In 1931, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from the Nonishagi site, (LA 541) Sandoval County, NM, 
during excavations by joint University of New Mexico/School of American 
Research field schools. The human remains have been on loan to the 
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology from the Museum of New Mexico since 1975 
(ARC7322, MMA75.223.1). No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Sometime during the 1920s or 1930s, human remains were removed from 
the Guisewa site (LA 679), Sandoval County, NM, during excavations by 
either the School of American Research with the Laboratory of 
Anthropology or University of New Mexico field schools. Human remains 
representing a minimum of one individual have been on loan to the 
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology from the Museum of New Mexico since 1975 
(MIAC 31788/18, MMA75.350.1). In addition, 
fragmentary human remains representing a minimum of 50 individuals were 
found in bags of faunal remains stored at the Museum of Indian Arts & 
Culture. The fragmentary human remains have been identified and 
inventoried, and do not appear to be associated with the individual on 
loan to the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. The fragmentary remains 
were originally inventoried as ARC 821, 819, 817, and 26915. 
In 2008, they were removed from these numbered containers and all human 
remains were combined as ARC 51993. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1965, human remains were removed from the Guisewa site (LA 679), 
Sandoval County, NM, during excavations by Museum of New Mexico staff 
prior to the installation of a new water line. Human remains 
representing a minimum of four individuals have been on loan to the 
Maxwell Museum of Anthropology from the Museum of New Mexico since 1975 
(MMA75.121.1, 2, 5 & 6). In addition, fragmentary human 
remains representing a minimum of 13 individuals were found in bags of 
faunal remains stored at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. The 
fragmentary human remains have been identified and inventoried, and do 
not appear to be associated with the individuals on loan to the Maxwell 
Museum of Anthropology. The fragmentary human remains were originally 
inventoried as ARC 47 and 88. In 2008, they were removed from 
these numbered containers and additional previously unreported 
containers, and all of the human remains were combined as ARC 
51992. No known individuals were identified. The three 
associated funerary objects are one large, crushed Jemez black-on-white 
bowl; one fragment of a small culinary bowl; and one small, crushed 
Jemez black-on-white bowl.
    In 1977-1978, fragmentary human remains representing a minimum of 
48 individuals were removed from the Guisewa site (LA 679), Sandoval 
County, NM, during excavations by Museum of New Mexico staff prior to 
conducting stabilization work on the ruins of a church and accompanying 
structures at the site. These elements of human bone were found in bags 
of faunal remains stored at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. The 
human remains were originally inventoried as ARC 26910, 29868, 
29866, 26919, 26928, 26926, 26925, 26870, 26918, 26950, and 26952. In 
2008, they were removed from these numbered containers and additional 
previously unreported containers, and all of the human remains were 
combined as ARC 51994. No known individuals were identified. 
No associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1983, fragmentary human remains representing a minimum of three 
individuals were removed from the Guisewa site (LA 679), Sandoval 
County, NM, during an excavation for trenches around the foundation for 
the Via Coeli Monastery. This portion of the Guisewa site is owned by 
the Roman Catholic Church, and was occupied by the religious order of 
the Servants of the Paraclete during the 1980s. In the late 1980s, the 
fragmentary remains were given to the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture 
by the Servants of the Paraclete. In 2008, the human remains were found 
in the collection (ARC51995). No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from the Jemez Cave site (LA 6164), Sandoval 
County, NM, during unpermitted excavations. In 1934, the human remains 
were offered for sale to participants of a joint University of New 
Mexico/School of American Research field school, and the field school 
staff took possession. In 1990, the Museum of New Mexico loaned the 
human remains to the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology 
(MMA90.5.8). No known individual was identified. The four 
associated funerary objects are one small feather blanket, one thin 
deer skin robe, one thick deer skin robe, and one large feather 
blanket.
    Based on burial location, material culture, and associated 
architecture, the human remains have been identified as Native 
American. The Native American human remains are identified as ancestral 
Jemez because they came from Puebloan sites of the upper Jemez River 
drainage. Populations that inhabited these sites are linked by Native 
oral tradition, Euro-American records, and archeological evidence to 
members of the present-day Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico.
    Officials of the Museum of New Mexico have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of at least 142 individuals of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of the Museum of New Mexico have also 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the eight objects 
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. Lastly, officials of the Museum of New 
Mexico 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 Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Dr. Shelby Tisdale, Director, Museum of Indian 
Arts & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, NM 
87504, telephone (505) 476-1251, before January 29, 2009. Repatriation 
of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Pueblo of 
Jemez, New Mexico may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture is responsible for notifying 
the Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 10, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-30892 Filed 12-29-08; 8:45 am]
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