[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34985-34986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14305]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-10363; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: 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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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
and Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, in consultation with 
the appropriate Indian tribes, have 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 
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona at the address below by July 12, 
2012.

ADDRESSES: John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721; telephone 
(520) 626-2950.

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 under 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 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 Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    In 1934, cultural items were removed from the Snaketown site (AZ 
U:13:1 (ASM)), on the Gila River Indian Reservation, Pinal County, AZ, 
during archeological excavations conducted by the Gila Pueblo 
Foundation of Arizona. In December, 1950, the Gila Pueblo Foundation 
closed and the collections were donated to the Arizona State Museum. 
Additional cultural items were removed from the same site in 1964-1965 
during legally authorized excavations conducted by the University of 
Arizona under the direction of Emil Haury. Collections obtained during 
the University of Arizona excavations were accessioned by the Arizona 
State Museum at the conclusion of the project. The items were 
reportedly found in association with human burials, but the human 
remains are not present in the collections. The 30 unassociated 
funerary objects are 1 ceramic plate, 1 ceramic vessel leg, 27 ceramic 
sherds, and 1 chipped stone artifact. Other unassociated funerary 
objects from this site were published in Notices of Intent to 
Repatriate in the Federal Register (66 FR 15741-15742, March 20, 2001; 
69 FR 76779-76780, December 22, 2004; and 71 FR 13164-13165, March 14, 
2006).
    The archeological evidence, including characteristics of portable 
material culture, attributes of ceramic styles, domestic and ritual 
architecture, site organization, and canal-based agriculture of the 
settlement places the Snaketown site within the archeologically-defined 
Hohokam tradition, and within the Phoenix Basin local variant of that 
tradition. The occupation of the Snaketown site spans the years circa 
A.D. 500/700-1100/1150.
    Continuities of mortuary practices, ethnographic materials, and 
technology indicate affiliation of Hohokam settlements with present-day 
O'odham (Piman) and Puebloan cultures. Documentation submitted by 
representatives of the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River 
Indian Reservation, Arizona, on April 13, 2011, addresses continuities 
between the Hohokam and the O'odham tribes. Furthermore, oral 
traditions that are documented for the Ak Chin Indian Community of the 
Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; and the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona support 
affiliation with Hohokam sites in central Arizona.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and the Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Arizona State 
Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 30 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 Ak Chin Indian Community of the 
Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, P.O.

[[Page 34986]]

Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 626-2950, before July 12, 
2012. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to the Ak Chin 
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and the Tohono 
O'odham Nation of Arizona may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying the Ak Chin 
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and the Tohono 
O'odham Nation of Arizona that this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 7, 2012.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-14305 Filed 6-11-12; 8:45 am]
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