[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 163 (Tuesday, August 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52017-52019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-20946]


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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 Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, Tucson, 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 control of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the physical custody of the 
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. The human 
remains and associated funerary

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objects were removed from sites within the boundaries of the Fort 
Apache Indian Reservation, Gila 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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Arizona 
State Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort 
Apache Reservation, Arizona; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico.
    In 1978, human remains representing a minimum of 65 individuals 
were removed from Spotted Mountain Ruin, AZ V:2:3(ASM), Gila County, 
AZ, during legally authorized salvage activities conducted by the 
University of Arizona Archaeological Field School under the direction 
of Madeleine Hinkes. The site had previously been extensively 
vandalized, and the objective of the University of Arizona 
archeologists was to recover all the human remains and associated 
funerary objects which had been disturbed. The collections were 
accessioned by the Arizona State Museum in 1978. No known individuals 
were identified. The 179 associated funerary objects are 155 ceramic 
sherds, 3 ceramic vessels, 1 stone drill, 14 stone projectile points, 1 
stone drill base, 1 shell fragment, 1 stone core and 3 pieces of flaked 
stone.
    The Spotted Mountain Ruin is a pueblo site with at least 80 rooms 
and an associated plaza. The architectural forms and ceramic types 
indicate that the village was occupied during the period A.D. 1275-
1400. These characteristics are consistent with the archeologically 
described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo traditions.
    In 1971, fragmentary human remains representing a minimum of four 
individuals were removed from the August 13th Site, AZ V:2:9(ASM), Gila 
County, AZ, during a legally authorized survey conducted by the 
University of Arizona Archaeological Field School under the direction 
of William Longacre. The site had previously been vandalized, and the 
objective of the University of Arizona survey was to recover all the 
human remains which had been disturbed. The collections were 
accessioned by the Arizona State Museum in 1971. No known individuals 
were identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    The site was described in field notes as a pueblo of at least 200 
rooms. It is probable that this site is actually the same locality as 
the Blue House Mountain Site, AZ V:2:13(ASM). The architectural forms 
and ceramic types indicate that the village was occupied during the 
period A.D. 1275-1400. These characteristics are consistent with the 
archeologically described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo 
traditions.
    In 1979, fragmentary human remains representing a minimum of three 
individuals were removed from the Blue House Mountain Site, AZ 
V:2:13(ASM), Gila County, AZ, during a legally authorized survey 
conducted by the University of Arizona Archaeological Field School 
under the direction of Madeleine Hinkes. A report prepared by Madeleine 
Hinkes describes the presence of 20 to 30 unauthorized excavations and 
scattered bone at this site, but does not state whether or not the bone 
was collected during her survey. There is no record in Arizona State 
Museum files regarding the accession of these human remains. However, 
the container in which the human remains were found is labeled July 8, 
1979. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    The Blue House Mountain Site is a 140 room pueblo. The 
architectural forms and ceramic types indicate that the village was 
occupied during the period A.D. 1275-1400. These characteristics are 
consistent with the archeologically described Upland Mogollon or 
prehistoric Western Pueblo traditions.
    On an unknown date, fragmentary human remains representing a 
minimum of one individual were removed from the T-20 Site, AZ 
V:2:14(ASM), Gila County, AZ. It is possible that the human remains 
were collected in 1979, at the same time that nearby sites were visited 
during legally authorized surveys conducted by the University of 
Arizona Archaeological Field School under the direction of Madeleine 
Hinkes. There is no record in Arizona State Museum files regarding the 
accession of these human remains, but the fact that they were found in 
the same storage location as the human remains from site AZ V:2:13(ASM) 
suggests that they were brought to the museum at the same time. No 
known individual was identified. The one associated funerary object is 
a chert flake.
    The T-20 Site has been dated to the period A.D. 900-1000, based on 
the types of ceramics present on the ground surface and surface 
indications of pithouse architecture. These characteristics indicate 
that the occupation of the site is likely related to an early phase of 
the archeologically described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western 
Pueblo traditions.
    On an unknown date, fragmentary human remains representing a 
minimum of four individuals were removed from Canyon Butte Pueblo, AZ 
V:2:49(ASM), Gila County, AZ. It is probable that the human remains 
were collected in 1979 during legally authorized surveys conducted by 
the University of Arizona Archaeological Field School under the 
direction of Madeleine Hinkes. A report prepared by Madeleine Hinkes 
describes the presence of five unauthorized excavations with a scatter 
of human and non-human bone at this site, but does not state whether or 
not the bone was collected during her survey. There is no record in 
Arizona State Museum files regarding the accession of these human 
remains, but the fact that they were found in the same storage location 
as the human remains from site AZ V:2:13(ASM) suggests that they were 
brought to the museum at the same time as that collection. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Canyon Butte Pueblo is an L-shaped masonry building of 40 to 65 
rooms, with a walled plaza. The architectural forms and ceramic types 
indicate that the village was occupied during the period A.D. 1275-
1400. These characteristics are consistent with the archeologically 
described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo traditions.
    A detailed discussion of the basis for cultural affiliation of 
archeological sites in the region where the above sites are located may 
be found in ``Cultural Affiliation Assessment of White Mountain Apache 
Tribal Lands (Fort Apache Indian Reservation),'' by John R. Welch and 
T.J. Ferguson (2005). The results of their assessment may be summarized 
as follows. Archeologists have used the terms Upland Mogollon or 
prehistoric Western Pueblo to define the archeological complexes 
represented by the five sites listed above. Material culture 
characteristics of these traditions include a temporal progression from 
earlier pit houses to later masonry pueblos, villages organized in room 
blocks of contiguous dwellings associated with plazas, rectangular 
kivas, polished and paint-decorated ceramics, unpainted

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corrugated ceramics, inhumation burials, cradleboard cranial 
deformation, grooved stone axes and bone artifacts. The combination of 
the material culture attributes and a subsistence pattern that included 
hunting and gathering augmented by maize agriculture helps to recognize 
an identifiable earlier group. Archeologists have also remarked that 
there are strong similarities between this earlier group and present-
day tribes included in the Western Pueblo ethnographic group, 
especially including the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of 
the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The similarities in ceramic 
traditions, burial practices, architectural forms and settlement 
patterns have led archeologists to believe that the prehistoric 
inhabitants of the Mogollon Rim region migrated north and west to the 
Hopi mesas, and north and east to the Zuni River Valley. Certain 
objects found in Upland Mogollon archeological sites have been found to 
have strong resemblances with ritual paraphernalia that are used in 
continuing religious practices by the Hopi and Zuni. Some petroglyphs 
on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation have also persuaded archeologists 
of continuities between the earlier identified group and current-day 
Western Pueblo people. Biological information from the site of 
Grasshopper Pueblo, which is located in close proximity to the five 
sites listed above, supports the view that the prehistoric occupants of 
the Upland Mogollon region had migrated from various locations to the 
north and west of the region.
    The archeological evidence for migration is paralleled by Hopi and 
Zuni oral traditions. Migration figures prominently in Hopi oral 
tradition, which refers to the ancient sites, pottery, stone tools, 
petroglyphs and other artifacts left behind by the ancestors as ``Hopi 
Footprints.'' This migration history is complex and detailed and 
includes traditions relating specific clans to the Mogollon region. 
Hopi cultural advisors have also identified medicinal and culinary 
plants at archeological sites in the region. Their knowledge about 
these plants was passed down to them from the ancestors who inhabited 
these ancient sites. Migration is also an important attribute of Zuni 
oral tradition and includes accounts of Zuni ancestors passing through 
the Upland Mogollon region. The ancient villages mark the routes of 
these migrations. Zuni cultural advisors remark that the ancient sites 
were not abandoned. People returned to these places from time to time, 
either to reoccupy them or for the purpose of religious pilgrimages -- 
a practice that has continued to the present-day. Archeologists have 
found ceramic evidence at shrines in the Upland Mogollon region that 
confirms these reports. Zuni cultural advisors have names for plants 
endemic to the Mogollon region which do not grow on the Zuni 
Reservation. They also have knowledge about traditional medicinal and 
ceremonial uses for these resources, which has been passed down to them 
from their ancestors. Furthermore, Hopi and Zuni cultural advisors have 
recognized that their ancestors may have been co-resident at some of 
the sites in this region during their ancestral migrations.
    There are differing points of view regarding the possible presence 
of Apache people in the Upland Mogollon region during the time that 
these ancient sites were occupied. Some Apache traditions describe 
interactions with Ancestral Pueblo people during this time, but 
according to these stories, Puebloan people and Apache people were 
regarded as having separate identities. The White Mountain Apache Tribe 
of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona, does not claim cultural 
affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary objects from 
these five ancestral Upland Mogollon sites. As reported by Welch and 
Ferguson (2005), consultations between the White Mountain Apache Tribe 
of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona, and the Navajo Nation, 
Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; and Pueblo of 
Laguna, New Mexico, have indicated that that none of these tribes wish 
to pursue claims of affiliation with sites on White Mountain Apache 
Tribal lands. Finally, the White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort 
Apache Reservation, Arizona, supports the repatriation of human remains 
and associated funerary objects from these five ancestral Upland 
Mogollon sites and is ready to assist the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and 
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, in reburial on tribal 
land.
    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Arizona State Museum 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of 77 individuals of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and 
Arizona State Museum also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 
3001(3)(A), the 180 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 Arizona State Museum 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 
Hopi Tribe of Arizona and 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 John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 
626-2950, before September 23, 2010. Repatriation of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, may proceed after that date 
if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 18, 2010.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-20946 Filed 8-23-10; 8:45 am]
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