[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 87 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 21388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10544]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC and New York University 
College of Dentistry, New York, NY

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 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, 
and in the physical custody of the New York University College of 
Dentistry, New York, NY. The human remains were removed from Pima 
County, AZ.
    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 Indian Affairs and New York University College of Dentistry 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Tohono 
O'odham Nation of Arizona.
    In February 1919, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from a burial area in Sells, which is within 
the Tohono O'odham Reservation, Pima County, AZ, by E.H. Davis. That 
same year, Davis donated the human remains to the Museum of the 
American Indian, Heye Foundation. In 1956, the Museum of the American 
Indian transferred the human remains to Dr. Theodore Kazamiroff, New 
York University College of Dentistry. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Records identify the human remains as an ``Old Papago skeleton 
exhumed from burial place'' at ``Indian Oasis, Arizona.'' The Papago 
are also known by the name Tohono O'odham. Indian Oasis is today known 
as Sells, AZ. The Tohono O'odham consider Sells to be part of their 
ancestral homelands. The O'odham people are identified in 16th century 
Spanish documents as living in present-day northern Mexico and southern 
Arizona. Several documents record Tohono O'odham communities in the 
region in the late 17th century. The Tohono O'odham remained in 
southern Arizona, even during the Apache raids of the 19th century, and 
several winter or ``well villages'' were located in the Sells district. 
Tohono O'odham residents of Kui Tatk and Tecolote, two defensive 
villages at the time of the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, resettled into 
the village of Artesa, which later became part of Sells. In the early 
20th century, Sells was identified as Komoktetuvavosit, a well village. 
In 1916, the Tohono O'odham Reservation was established by Executive 
Order. In 1937, the Tohono O'odham Nation was recognized under the 
Indian Reorganization Act.
    The assignment of a tribal affiliation of ``Papago'' for the human 
remains suggests that they date to the late 17th to mid-20th centuries, 
the time period for which variants of the word ``Papago'' were in use. 
The cranial morphology of the human remains is consistent with 
biometric data from early 20th century Tohono O'odham communities. The 
description of the human remains as an ``old'' skeleton implies that 
the burial predated the more recent cemetery burials around Sells. 
Prior to the adoption of cemeteries as burial areas, individuals were 
placed in protected locations such as cairns. The condition and the 
weathering pattern of the human remains are consistent with a cairn or 
other protected burial area.
    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and New York University 
College of Dentistry 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 Indian Affairs and New York University College of Dentistry 
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 Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Dr. 
Louis Terracio, New York University College of Dentistry, 345 East 24th 
St, New York, NY 10010, telephone (212) 998-9917, before June 8, 2009. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The New York University College of Dentistry and Bureau of Indian 
Affairs are responsible for notifying the Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 14, 2009.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-10544 Filed 5-6-09; 8:45 am]
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