[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 128 (Tuesday, July 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32184-32185]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-16022]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Tumacacori, 
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. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Tumacacori, 
AZ. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from 
areas near Tumacacori Mission in Santa Cruz 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 within this notice are the sole responsibility of 
the superintendent, Tumacacori National Historical Park.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by Tumacacori National Historical Park and Western 
Archeological and Conservation Center professional staff in 
consultation with representatives 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; Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New 
Mexico; Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; San Carlos Apache 
Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The Ak 
Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, 
Arizona did not attend the consultation meetings but was represented by 
the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Arizona. The Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache 
Nation, New Mexico; Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona; and the White 
Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona were 
contacted but did not participate in the consultation meetings.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from an unknown site within what is now 
Tumacacori National Historical Park in Santa Cruz County, AZ. No known 
individual was identified. The one associated funerary object is a 
cremation/burial jar.
    In the 1930s, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from the area near Tumacacori Mission in Santa 
Cruz County, AZ. The remains and associated funerary object were 
donated to Tumacacori National Historical Park in 1938 by Louis 
Caywood. No known individual was identified. The one associated 
funerary object is a cremation/burial jar.
    Between December 1934 and March 1935, human remains representing a 
minimum of two individuals were removed from an unknown location area 
near Tumacacori Mission in Santa Cruz County, AZ. No known individuals 
were identified. The 38 associated funerary objects are 33 plainware 
pottery sherds from a cremation/burial jar, 2 bags of sherds from a 
cremation jar, 1 unworked burnt shell, 1 piece of worked faunal bone, 
and 1 pendant.
    In 1955, human remains representing a minimum of nine individuals 
were removed from fields just outside park boundaries in Santa Cruz 
County, AZ. The remains and associated funerary objects were donated to 
the park by J.L. Kalb, a local rancher in whose fields the remains and 
objects were found. No known individuals were identified. The 43 
associated funerary objects are 4 cremation/burial jars, 1 cremation/
burial bowl, 11 pieces of burnt unworked bone, 9 unworked ceramic 
sherds, 2 worked ceramic sherds, 12 beads, 1 shell bracelet fragment, 1 
piece of worked faunal bone, 1 unworked shell fragment, and 1 awl.
    The Native American human remains described above are all 
cremations with associated pottery vessels and artifacts that are 
characteristic of the culture group commonly known to archeologists as 
the Hohokam and date between A.D. 300 and A.D. 1300. The term 
``Hohokam'' is used here for convenience due to its common use as a 
descriptor of this culture; it is unknown what name these people 
applied to themselves, and their present-day descendants do not use 
this term. The ``Hohokam'' were a sedentary agricultural group that 
developed out of the local Archaic population. Their settlement pattern 
was predominantly of the rancheria type, with pithouse or house-in-pit 
architecture. Pit or urn cremations were the predominant burial 
practice prior to A.D. 1100. Extended supine inhumations then became 
more prevalent, completely replacing cremations by A.D. 1300. There was 
a pronounced, though far from complete, decline in population after 
about A.D. 1350.
    The Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Reservation, 
Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the 
Salt River Reservation; and the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona 
comprise one cultural group known as the O'odham. The Ak Chin Indian 
Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Reservation, Arizona consists 
primarily of Akimel and Tohono O'odham, with a few families of Hia-Ced 
O'odham. The Gila River Indian Community of the Gila

[[Page 32185]]

River Indian Reservation, Arizona and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa 
Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation are both composed 
primarily of Akimel O'odham along with small populations of Maricopas.
    The O'odham commonly refer to their ancestors as the ``Huhugam''. 
The Akimel O'odham, Tohono O'odham and the Hia-Ced O'odham (not 
Federally-recognized) are descendants of the ``Huhugam''. Their oral 
history documents the end time of the ``Hohokam'', and archeological 
evidence supports the link between historic O'odham groups and the 
prehistoric ``Hohokam''. Linguistic, oral tradition, and ethnographic 
evidence also support affiliation between the ``Hohokam'' and the 
present-day O'odham.
    The Hopi Tribe of Arizona considers all of Arizona to be within 
traditional Hopi lands, or within areas where Hopi clans migrated in 
the past. According to Hopi oral history some clans moved out of the 
Valley of Mexico/Central Mexico and migrated north into the Gila and 
Salt River Basins. The Santa Cruz Valley, which extends from Northern 
Sonora, Mexico into southern Arizona to the confluence of the Gila and 
Salt Rivers, was a natural corridor for the movement of peoples from 
the south and served as a migration route for Hopi clans. Several 
researchers have noted similarities between Hopi ceremonies and those 
of the O'odham. On May 23, 1994, the Hopi Tribe of Arizona issued a 
resolution declaring its cultural affiliation with the ``Hohokam''.
    Oral history suggests that some Zuni clans began their migrations 
in the Salt-Gila River basins and originated from the Hohokam. On July 
11, 1995, the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico issued a 
``Statement of Cultural Affiliation with Prehistoric and Historic 
Cultures'' which asserts a shared group identity with the ``Hohokam'' 
based on oral teachings and traditions, ethnohistoric documentation, 
and historic and archeological evidence. Zuni oral history speaks of 
ancestral migrations and settling throughout the region in search for 
the Middle Place of the World (present-day Pueblo of Zuni). A recent 
publication, Zuni Origins, discusses some of the evidence for shared 
group identity between the ``Hohokam'' of southern Arizona and the Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    Officials of Tumacacori National Historical Park have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described 
above represent the physical remains of 13 individuals of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of Tumacacori National Historical Park 
also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 83 
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 Tumacacori 
National Historical Park 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 Ak Chin Indian Community of the 
Maricopa (Ak Chin) Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of 
the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt 
River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, 
Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and the Zuni Tribe of the 
Zuni Reservation, 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 Lisa Carrico, superintendent, Tumacacori 
National Historical Park, P.O. Box 8067, Tumacacori, AZ 85640, 
telephone (520) 398-2341 Ext. 52, before August 6, 2009. Repatriation 
of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Ak Chin 
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Reservation, Arizona; Gila 
River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the 
Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and 
the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Tumacacori National Historical Park 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; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Mescalero Apache 
Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Pascua Yaqui Tribe of 
Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos 
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: June 22, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-16022 Filed 7-6-09; 8:45 am]
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