[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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