[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14050-14051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-5848]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-65]


 Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: 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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate a cultural item 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, that meets the definition of sacred object and object of 
cultural patrimony under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural 
item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    The cultural item is a medicine bundle, consisting of a sack made 
from the hide of a small mammal, which contains a necklace composed of 
large animal claws and shells, one separate large animal claw, two 
crystals wrapped in fiber, two shell pendants and one bead on a string, 
one projectile point, one stone disk, one shell disk, one hide bundle 
containing a reddish-orange mineral, two tied bundles with undetermined 
contents, and two empty hide bundles. In 1931, the item was recovered 
at Broken Flute Cave, AZ E:8:1(ASM), located on the Navajo Indian 
Reservation, in Apache County, AZ, during excavations conducted by

[[Page 14051]]

the Carnegie Institution of Washington under the direction of Earl 
Morris. The item was transferred from the Carnegie Institution to the 
Arizona State Museum in 1957.
    Consultations with representatives of the Navajo Nation have 
identified the object as a Navajo jish (Medicine Bundle) used in the 
H[oacute]ch[oacute]'[iacute]j[iacute] (Evil Way Ceremony). The 
identification is supported by detailed information provided by 
traditional Navajo religious practitioners regarding the use and origin 
of the object and its contents.
    The Navajo people believe that jish are alive and must be treated 
with respect. The primary purpose of the jish is to cure people of 
diseases, mental and physical illness, and to restore beauty and 
harmony. Accordingly, no single individual can truly own any jish. The 
right to control jish is outlined by Navajo traditional laws, which 
vest this responsibility in Hataa[lstrok]ii (Medicine persons). 
Hataa[lstrok]ii are not owners of jish, but only care, utilize, and 
bequeath them for the Navajo people. The jish was discovered in the 
fill of a pithouse at the archeological site of Broken Flute Cave, but 
may have been intrusive from a later time period. According to 
information provided by traditional religious practitioners, jish have 
occasionally been placed in previously existing archeological contexts 
for safekeeping.
    Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(C), that the 
cultural item described above is a specific ceremonial object needed by 
traditional Native American religious leaders for the practice of 
traditional Native American religions by their present-day adherents. 
Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, also have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), that 
the cultural item described above has ongoing historical, traditional, 
or cultural importance central to the Native American group or culture 
itself, rather than property owned by an individual. Lastly, officials 
of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, have 
determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), that there is a relationship 
of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
sacred object/object of cultural patrimony and the Navajo Nation of 
Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the sacred object/object of cultural 
patrimony should contact Garry Cantley, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
Western Regional Office, 2600 N. Central Ave., 12th floor, Phoenix, AZ 
85004, telephone (602) 379-6750, ext.1256, before April 14, 2011. 
Repatriation of the sacred object/object of cultural patrimony to the 
Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, is 
responsible for notifying the Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and 
Utah that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 9, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-5848 Filed 3-14-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P