[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 57 (Thursday, March 25, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14464-14465]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6564]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Hovenweep National Monument, Blanding, UT

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 
object in the possession and control of the U.S. Department of the 
Interior, National Park Service, Hovenweep National Monument, Blanding, 
UT. The human remains and associated funerary object were removed from 
three sites in Montezuma County, CO, and San Juan County, UT.
    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 
superintendent, Hovenweep National Monument.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Hovenweep 
National Monument professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the

[[Page 14465]]

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 Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Southern Ute 
Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian 
Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; and Zuni Tribe of the 
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San 
Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo 
Domingo, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Ute Mountain Tribe of 
the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; and Ysleta 
del Sur Pueblo of Texas were contacted for consultation purposes but 
did not attend the consultation meetings.
    In 1953, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were removed from an unspecified site, in San Juan County, UT. The 
human remains were discovered by a seasonal park ranger in a weathering 
midden 1/2 mile south of the Square Tower Group, which consists of five 
Pueblo II (A.D. 900-1150) - Pueblo III (A.D. 1150-1300) period 
complexes. No known individuals were identified. The associated 
funerary object is a crescent shaped cracked wood object with one 
polished end.
    In 1975, following unauthorized disturbance by a pothunter, human 
remains representing a minimum of one individual were removed from an 
unspecified site in the Goodman Point Unit, in Montezuma County, CO, by 
a park employee. The human remains may be associated with Goodman Point 
Pueblo, which was likely occupied during the Pueblo III period (A.D. 
1150-1300). No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    In 1976, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from the ``Wickiup 1'' site, in San Juan County, UT, by 
San Jose State University. The site dates from the Basketmaker III 
(A.D. 450-700) through the Pueblo III (A.D. 1150-1300) periods. No 
known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Hovenweep National Monument has determined that, due to a lack of 
contextual information, there is not sufficient evidence to support a 
precise cultural affiliation determination for the human remains and 
associated funerary object.
    Officials of Hovenweep National Monument have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of five individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of Hovenweep National Monument also have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the object described above is 
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 Hovenweep National Monument have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), a relationship of 
shared group identity cannot reasonably be traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary object and any present-
day Indian tribe.
    The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review 
Committee (Review Committee) is responsible for recommending specific 
actions for disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains. In 
February 2009, Hovenweep National Monument requested that the Review 
Committee recommend disposition of the culturally unidentifiable human 
remains to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico based on geographic proximity. The Review Committee considered 
the proposal at its May 23-24, 2009, meeting, and recommended 
disposition of the human remains to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pueblo 
of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; and Zuni Tribe of the 
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The National Park Service intends to 
convey the associated funerary object to the tribes pursuant to 16 
U.S.C. 18f-2.
    A September 16, 2009, letter from the Designated Federal Officer, 
writing on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior, transmitted the 
authorization for the park to effect disposition of the physical 
remains of the culturally unidentifiable individuals to the four Indian 
tribes listed above contingent on the publication of a Notice of 
Inventory Completion in the Federal Register. This notice fulfills that 
requirement.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
object should contact Coralee S. Hays, superintendent, Hovenweep 
National Monument, McElmo Route, Cortez, CO 81321, telephone (970) 562-
4282, before April 26, 2010. Disposition of the human remains to the 
Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New 
Mexico; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Hovenweep National Monument is responsible for notifying the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; 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 Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; 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: January 26, 2010
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-6564 Filed 3-24-10; 8:45 am]
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