[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52056-52057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20949]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-10998; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Arizona State 
Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, 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 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 September 
27, 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 in the 
possession 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

    The unassociated funerary objects are six ceramic bowls, four 
ceramic jars, two ceramic pitchers, and three ceramic sherds. The 
funerary objects were removed from the Burruel site, AZ AA:16:58 (ASM), 
which is located on private land adjacent to the San Xavier Indian 
Reservation, Pima County, AZ. The Burruel site was inadvertently 
discovered in 1979 by the property owner and excavation of human 
remains and funerary objects was conducted by staff from the Arizona 
State Museum. The human remains and funerary objects were brought to 
the Arizona State Museum for documentation. The funerary objects were 
returned to the property owner later that same year. In 1980, the 
property owner transferred control of the human remains to the Arizona 
State Museum. The human remains were reported in a Notice of Inventory 
Completion in the Federal Register (73 FR 8356-8357, February 13, 2008) 
and were subsequently repatriated. At an unknown date, the funerary 
objects were acquired by Dr. Peter Toma. In May 2012, Dr. Toma donated 
all of the funerary objects to the Arizona State Museum. The Burruel 
site includes at least two trash mounds and a cremation area. Ceramics 
associate the site with the Tanque Verde phase of the Classic period of 
the Hohokam Archeological tradition, dating to approximately AD 1150 to 
1450.
    Father Eusebio Kino visited the O'odham village of Bac in 1692 and 
established Mission San Xavier. He reported the presence of 800 
inhabitants at the time of his first visit. O'odham people have 
continued to occupy the land in the vicinity of the mission throughout 
the historic period. They also identify themselves with the Hohokam 
Archeological tradition. Cultural continuity between the prehistoric 
occupants of the region and present day O'odham and Puebloan peoples is 
supported by continuities in settlement pattern, architectural 
technologies, basketry, textiles, ceramic technology, ritual practices, 
and oral

[[Page 52057]]

traditions. The descendants of the O'odham peoples of the areas 
described above are members of the Ak Chin Indian Community of the 
Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt River 
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; 
and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona. The descendants of the Puebloan 
peoples of the areas described above are members of the Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.

Determinations Made by the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona

    Officials of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona have 
determined that
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 15 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; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and the Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico (hereafter referred to as 
``The Tribes'').

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. Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone 
(520) 626-2950, before September 27, 2012. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed after that date 
if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying The Tribes 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 1, 2012.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-20949 Filed 8-27-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P