[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 57 (Thursday, March 25, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14463-14464]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6566]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC and 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 
objects in the control of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and the possession of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Hovenweep National 
Monument, Blanding, UT. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from the vicinity of the Aneth Trading Post site 
in 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 
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 and associated funerary 
objects was made by Hovenweep National Monument professional staff and 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs in consultation with representatives of 
the 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

[[Page 14464]]

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 1976, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from the vicinity of the Aneth Trading Post site on the 
reservation of the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah in San 
Juan County, UT, possibly by San Jose State University. The fragmentary 
state of the remains likely resulted from grading, construction, and 
road building activities that adversely affected the site. The Aneth 
Trading Post site dates from the Pueblo I (A.D. 700-900) through the 
Pueblo III (A.D. 1150-1300) periods. No known individual was 
identified. The four associated funerary objects are one corrugated 
sherd and three unidentified animal bone fragments.
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs and Hovenweep National Monument have 
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 objects.
    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and 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 one 
individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs and Hovenweep National Monument also have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the four 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 Bureau of Indian 
Affairs and 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 objects 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, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and 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 Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah provided a 
letter of support for the ``culturally unidentifiable'' determination 
by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Hovenweep National Monument and the 
disposition to the four Indian tribes listed above due to the unique 
circumstances of the site. 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 Bureau of Indian Affairs intends to convey 
the associated funerary objects 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 Bureau of Indian Affairs and Hovenweep National 
Monument to effect disposition of the physical remains of the 
culturally unidentifiable individual 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 
objects 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.
    The Bureau of Indian Affairs and Hovenweep National Monument are 
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. 2010-6566 Filed 3-24-10; 8:45 am]
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