[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 140 (Thursday, July 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43721-43722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18357]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[2253-665]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Fowler Museum at
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Fowler Museum at UCLA, in consultation with the
appropriate Indian tribes, has determined that the cultural items meet
the definition of unassociated funerary objects and repatriation to the
Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come
forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with the cultural items may contact the Fowler
Museum at UCLA.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the Fowler
Museum at UCLA at the address below by August 22, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Wendy G. Teeter, PhD, Curator of Archaeology, Fowler Museum
at UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, telephone (310) 825-
1864.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 cultural items in the
possession of the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, that meet the
definition of unassociated funerary objects 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
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
History and Description of the Cultural Items
In 1940, unassociated funerary objects were removed from the Van
Liere Ranch Site, in Maricopa County, AZ, during excavations by J.W.
Simmons. The collection was donated to the Fowler Museum at UCLA by
Thomas Hinton in 1956. The 69 unassociated funerary objects are 17 clay
plaques, 1 shell bead, 8 slate palettes, 1 shell, 1 ceramic sherd, 1
small ceramic bowl, 3 stone gaming pieces, 2 stone plaque fragments, 3
red clay vessels, 16 shell disc beads, 1 lead globular, 2 pieces of
ochre, 4 organic fossils, and 9 awl fragments.
The Van Liere Ranch site was a burial ground with numerous Hohokam
cremations and other features. This site is dated from A.D. 300--1500
based on the cultural materials found at the site, which are identified
by archeologists and cultural experts as consistent with Hohokam
culture. There are burial records that describe the excavation of each
burial and include field and artifact photos, drawings, and site maps.
Except for an infant tooth that is not associated with these funerary
objects, the human remains were not removed from the ground. The
unassociated funerary objects are identified based on their contextual
burial designations and burial excavation notes and photos.
[[Page 43722]]
The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River
Reservation, Arizona, has submitted a repatriation claim for the
cultural items described in this notice, on behalf of itself and the Ak
Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation,
Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian
Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona (hereinafter
referred to as ``The Four Southern Tribes of Arizona''). The Four
Southern Tribes of Arizona assert a ``close relationship of shared
group identity that can be traced both historically and prehistorically
between the Four Southern Tribes of Arizona and the people that
inhabited south central Arizona and the northern region of present day
Mexico from time immemorial.'' Therefore, The Four Southern Tribes of
Arizona claim cultural affiliation to the cultural items based on
geographical, archeological, linguistic, oral tradition, and historical
evidence.
The Hopi Tribe ``claims cultural and ancestral affiliation to all
human remains, associated and unassociated funerary objects, sacred
objects, and objects of cultural patrimony that were collected from
Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Basketmaker, Hisatsinom (Anasazi), Mogollon,
Hohokam, Sinaguan, Fremont, Mimbres, and Salado, prehistoric and
historic cultures of the Southwest.''
Based on, ``Zuni oral teachings and tradition, ethnohistoric
documentation, historic documentation, archaeological documentation,
and other evidence, the Zuni Tribe claims cultural affiliation with
prehistoric cultures of the Southwestern United States that include,
and are known as, Paleo Indian, Archaic, Basketmaker, Puebloan,
Freemont, Anasazi, Mogollon (including Mimbres and Jornada), Hohokam,
Sinagua, Western Pueblo, and Salado.''
Therefore, the oral tradition, kinship system, and archeology all
indicate that The Four Southern Tribes of Arizona, Hopi Tribe of
Arizona, and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico,
identify with the archeological Hohokam tradition. Finally, multiple
lines of evidence, including treaties, Acts of Congress, and Executive
Orders, indicate that the land from which the cultural items were
removed is the aboriginal land of The Four Southern Tribes of Arizona,
Hopi Tribe of Arizona, and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico.
Determinations Made by the Fowler Museum at UCLA
Officials of the Fowler Museum at UCLA have determined that:
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 69 cultural items
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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native
American individual.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the
unassociated funerary objects and The Four Southern Tribes of Arizona,
Hopi Tribe of Arizona, and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should
contact Wendy G. Teeter, PhD, Curator of Archaeology, Fowler Museum at
UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, telephone (310) 825-1864,
before August 22, 2011. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary
objects to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt
River Reservation, Arizona, on behalf of The Four Southern Tribes of
Arizona, may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come
forward.
The Fowler Museum at UCLA is responsible for notifying The Four
Southern Tribes of Arizona, Hopi Tribe of Arizona, and the Zuni Tribe
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, that this notice has been
published.
Dated: July 14, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-18357 Filed 7-20-11; 8:45 am]
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