[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 3, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45657-45658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19001]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Colorado Museum, 
Boulder, CO

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 
University of Colorado Museum, Boulder, CO. The human remains were 
removed from Washington County, CO.
    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 
University of Colorado Museum professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Arapahoe Tribe of the 
Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma; 
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South 
Dakota; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Crow Tribe of Montana; Fort Sill 
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa 
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero 
Reservation, New Mexico; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine 
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Rosebud 
Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Southern 
Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Standing 
Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of 
the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute 
Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.
    In 1953, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were removed from the Claypool site, Washington County, CO, by the 
University of Colorado Museum. Local residents had been collecting 
artifacts in that area for years. In January 2004, the human remains 
were discovered in the museum during an inventory. No known individuals 
were identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    The human remains are Native American based on the biological 
assessment and the site context. The Claypool site appears to have been 
a Cody Complex campsite. Diagnostic artifacts found there include Eden 
points, a Scottsbluff point, and a Cody knife. Other material culture 
consists of scrapers, numerous stone flakes, charred and uncharred 
bone, and pieces of grooved sandstone. The stratigraphy indicates the 
artifacts are postglacial and date from 10,000 to 7,000 years ago.
    Officials of the University of Colorado Museum have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of three individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Lastly, officials of the University of Colorado Museum 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 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 
October 2009, the University of Colorado Museum requested that the 
Review Committee recommend disposition of the culturally unidentifiable 
human remains to the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah, based on aboriginal land 
claims supported by oral tradition, as well as the support of the other 
Indian tribes consulted. The Comanche Nation, Oklahoma, and Pawnee 
Nation of Oklahoma signed the disposition agreement in support of the 
disposition to the Ute Mountain Tribe. Furthermore, none of the Indian 
tribes consulted objected to the determination of ``culturally 
unidentifiable'' status by the University of Colorado Museum and the 
disposition to the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, 
Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.
    The Review Committee considered the proposal at its October 30-31, 
2009, meeting and recommended disposition of the human remains to the 
Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New 
Mexico & Utah. The Secretary of the Interior agreed with the Review 
Committee's recommendation. An April 19, 2010, letter from the 
Designated Federal Officer, writing on behalf of the Secretary of the 
Interior, transmitted the authorization for the University of Colorado 
Museum to effect disposition of the physical remains of the culturally 
unidentifiable individuals to the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute 
Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah, 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 should contact Steve 
Lekson, Curator of Anthropology, University of Colorado Museum, in care 
of Jan Bernstein, NAGPRA Consultant, Bernstein & Associates, 1041 
Lafayette Street, Denver, CO 80218, telephone (303) 894-0648, before 
September 2, 2010. Disposition of the human remains to the Ute Mountain 
Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah, may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The University of Colorado Museum is responsible for notifying the 
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, 
Wyoming; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux 
Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Comanche Nation, 
Oklahoma; Crow Tribe of Montana; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa

[[Page 45658]]

Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero 
Reservation, New Mexico; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine 
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Rosebud 
Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; Southern 
Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Standing 
Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of 
the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute 
Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah, that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: July 26, 2010
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-19001 Filed 8-2-10; 8:45 am]
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