[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52055-52056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20952]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11022; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Forest Service, Coconino National Forest, Flagstaff, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, 
Coconino National Forest, in consultation with the appropriate Indian 
tribe, has determined that the cultural items meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary objects and repatriation to the Indian tribe 
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 USDA 
Forest Service, Southwestern Region.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the USDA 
Forest Service, Southwestern Region at the address below by September 
27, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Frank E. Wozniak, NAGPRA Coordinator, Southwestern 
Region, USDA Forest Service, 333 Broadway Blvd., SE., Albuquerque, NM 
87102, telephone (505) 842-3238.

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 Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and 
under the control of the Coconino National Forest 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 item(s). The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

[[Page 52056]]

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    In 1926, three unassociated funerary objects [Catalogue s 
A2827.31-1, A2827.31-3 and A2827.31-5] were removed from Elden Pueblo 
(site NA 142) in Coconino County, AZ, during legally authorized 
archaeological excavations conducted by Jesse W. Fewkes of the 
Smithsonian Institution. The Elden Pueblo (site NA 142) is on the 
Coconino National Forest. These three objects have been curated at the 
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA, since 
1931, when the Smithsonian Institution transferred the objects to the 
musem. The three unassociated funerary objects are two ceramic bowls 
and one ceramic jar.
    Based on archaeological evidence and material culture, Elden Pueblo 
(site NA 142) has been identified as a Northern Sinagua site, comprised 
of a pueblo, pithouses, and outlier pueblos, which were occupied in the 
second half of the 13th and the first quarter of the 14th centuries 
A.D. The records at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 
and the Smithsonian Institution indicate that these three cultural 
items were removed from a burial context and that the human remains 
were either left in the ground or are not locatable at the present 
time. Continuities among the ethnographic materials in the Flagstaff 
area of north central Arizona indicate that the Northern Sinagua sites 
in that area are affiliated with the Hopi Tribe, Arizona. In addition, 
oral traditions presented by representatives of the Hopi Tribe support 
their claims of cultural affiliation with Northern Sinagua sites in 
this portion of north central Arizona.

Determinations Made by the USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region

    Officials of the USDA Forest Service, Southwestern Region and the 
Coconino National Forest have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the three 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 Hopi Tribe, 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 Dr. Frank E. Wozniak, NAGPRA Coordinator, Southwestern Region, 
USDA Forest Service, 333 Broadway Blvd., SE., Albuquerque, NM 87102, 
telephone (505) 842-3238 before September 27, 2012. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Hopi Tribe, Arizona, may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Coconino National Forest is responsible for notifying the Hopi 
Tribe, Arizona, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 6, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-20952 Filed 8-27-12; 8:45 am]
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