[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 107 (Monday, June 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32993-32994]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13451]



[[Page 32993]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-10247; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Forest Service, Rio Grande National Forest, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rio Grande 
National Forest, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Anasazi Heritage Center, has completed an 
inventory of human remains in consultation with the appropriate Indian 
tribes, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation 
between the remains and any present-day Indian tribe. Disposition of 
the human remains to the Indian tribe stated below may occur if no 
additional requestors come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Rio 
Grande National Forest at the address below by July 5, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Ms. Angie M. Krall, Heritage Program Manager, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rio Grande National Forest, 
1803 W. Highway 160, Monte Vista, CO 81144, telephone (719) 852-6242.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 under 
the control of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rio 
Grande National Forest, and in the possession of the U.S. Department of 
Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Anasazi Heritage Center.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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.

Consultation

    In accordance with procedures detailed in a signed Native American 
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Memorandum of Understanding 
between these tribes and Federal land management agencies within the 
San Luis Valley, CO, initial letters were sent to the following tribes 
requesting their attendance at a planned consultation meeting sponsored 
by the Rio Grande National Forest to be held on April 5, 2011. Tribes 
initially contacted by letter included: the Jicarilla Apache Nation, 
New Mexico; Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah; Ohkay 
Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of San Juan); Pueblo of Acoma, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San 
Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa 
Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Southern Ute Tribe of the Southern 
Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray 
Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, 
Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico.
    The Rio Grande National Forest professional staff, prior to this 
initial contact and consultation, made an assessment of the subject 
human remains with assistance from analyses by Colorado College 
Department of Anthropology, Colorado Springs, CO. Additional assessment 
was made in a consultation meeting held with the following tribes in 
Delores, CO, on April 5, 2011: The Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; 
Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Southern Ute Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & 
Ouray Reservation, Utah; and the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.
    The consulting tribes were provided reports at this meeting giving 
detailed descriptions of the human remains, their discovery and 
condition, as well as the agency offices in possession and custody of 
the remains. All representatives of the tribes present requested that 
the Forest Service follow the procedures for repatriation outlined in 
the interagency/intertribal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) mentioned 
above. This MOU was signed by governmental officials from all of the 
above listed tribes, and the Bureau of Land Management (San Luis Public 
Lands Center), National Park Service (Great Sand Dunes National Park 
and Preserve), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Alamosa/Monte Vista and 
Baca National Wildlife Refuges), and the U.S. Forest Service (Rio 
Grande National Forest). The consultation meeting resulted in a 
consensus that the human remains listed in this notice maintain their 
status as culturally unidentifiable, and they be repatriated to the Ute 
Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & 
Utah.

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1950 and 2000, human remains were removed from various 
locations on U.S. Forest Service lands in southern Colorado and 
subsequently stored at the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land 
Management, Anasazi Heritage Center, in southern Colorado. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects were 
present.
    In 1985, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were excavated from Cotton Creek, in Saguache County, CO. The remains 
are a cranial calotte consisting of the cranial vault but missing the 
facial skeleton and cranial base (catalogue  5SH1047-01). 
Additional remains associated with this burial are seven human bone 
fragments, including: A right temporal bone fragment (5SH1047-02); a 
right temporal bone fragment containing the middle and inner ear 
(5SH1047-03); a left temporal bone fragment, petrous portion (5SH1047-
04); a sphenoid fragment (5SH1047-05); a right temporal fragment 
(5SH1047-06) (fits with 5SH1047-02); a possible anterior wall of an 
external auditory meatus (5SH1047-07); and one unidentified bone 
fragment (5SH1047-08). Cotton Creek drains the high peak areas of the 
Sangre de Cristo Mountains and flows into the San Luis Valley, and the 
remains were found eroding out of a bank between a road and a beaver 
pond in the Saguache Ranger District, on lands of the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rio Grande National Forest. The remains 
were found by a member of a Student Conservation Corps work crew in the 
beaver pond near a foot trail and were removed by the Saguache Country 
Sheriff soon after discovery. The remains likely date to the late 
prehistoric or early historic period. At the time of discovery, the 
remains were tentatively classified as Native American due to the 
complex cranial suture patterns and the slight sagittal keeling of the 
vault.
    On March 5, 1990, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual (catalogue  LB-90-01) were

[[Page 32994]]

part of a private donation to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Forest Service, Rio Grande National Forest. The remains were in the 
possession of a private collector 20 years prior to the donation. The 
original site of discovery is unknown. The remains consist of a nearly 
complete cranium plus two right parietal fragments that have been glued 
together. The entire cranium has been shellacked or varnished. The 
postero-inferior vault is darkly stained, indicative of having been in 
the ground. The remainder of the skull is bleached indicating exposure 
to the sun and elements, and weathering cracks are present in exposed 
areas. Four maxillary teeth are present plus one root fragment. 
Following examination, the remains were determined to be from an adult 
male, 30-40 years of age. Cultural affiliation and age of the remains 
could not be determined. The remains were determined to be Native 
American based on cranial morphology and the degree of dental 
attrition.
    In 1994, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
(catalogue  NA-94-A) was located by private citizens in Del 
Norte, in Saguache County, on the Rio Grande National Forest, CO. The 
private citizens found the remains in a secondary burial in a shallow 
recent gravesite in the foothills of Del Norte, CO. The discovery was 
reported to the Saguache County Sheriff's Department and the remains 
were removed by sheriff's representatives. The condition of the remains 
strongly suggests that the remains were coated with undetermined 
materials and used as a display for unknown purposes. The remains 
included a nearly complete cranium, mandible, and complete left 
humerus, left and right radii, right femur, left and right tibiae, 
right fibula, and several thoracic vertebrae. The remains are those of 
an adult male, over 40 years of age at the time of death. Cultural 
affiliation and age of the remains could not be determined. Based on 
cranial and dental morphology the remains were determined to be Native 
American.
    In 1997, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
(catalogue 2130 (07/03/96)) were turned over to the Rio Grande 
National Forest by the Saguache County Sheriff's Department. No details 
were provided on date or location of removal, and the remains were 
found on ``a shelf in the East Storage Building'' in the town of 
Saguache. The remains consist of a cranial calotte (or calva) 
consisting of the cranial vault but missing the facial skeleton and 
cranial base. No teeth were present. A moderate degree of polish is 
evident over the entire skull. Partial closure of sutures and the 
general small size of the cranial vault indicates the remains are of a 
sub-adult adolescent. A flattening of the lower occipital is noted, 
possibly from the use of a cradleboard, indicating Native American 
ancestry.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest 
Service, Rio Grande National Forest

    Officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 
Rio Grande National Forest have determined that:
     Based on two analyses of the human remains by the 
Department of Anthropology, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, in 
1986 and 1994, the human remains are determined to be Native American.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2) and based on the analyses 
and as a result of consultation, a relationship of shared group 
identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American human 
remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
     According to final judgments of the Indian Claims 
Commission and other lines of evidence, the lands from which the Native 
American human remains were removed is the aboriginal land of the 
Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Navajo Nation of Arizona, New 
Mexico and Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of San 
Juan); Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Southern Ute Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & 
Ouray Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; and the Zuni Tribe of the 
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of four individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains is to Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, 
Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains or any other Indian tribe 
that believes it satisfies the criteria in 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1) should 
contact Ms. Angie M. Krall, Heritage Program Manager, U.S. Department 
of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rio Grande National Forest, 1803 W. 
Highway 160, Monte Vista, CO 81144, telephone (719) 852-6242 before 
July 5, 2012. 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 requestors come forward.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rio Grande 
National Forest is responsible for notifying the Jicarilla Apache 
Nation, New Mexico; Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah; 
Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; 
Southern Ute Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute 
Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; and the Ute 
Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & 
Utah that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 30, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-13451 Filed 6-1-12; 8:45 am]
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