[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 189 (Friday, September 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59658-59659]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23930]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11153; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Flagstaff, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 
Walnut Canyon National Monument has completed an inventory of human 
remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and present-day Indian tribes. Representatives of any Indian tribe that 
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains and 
associated funerary objects may contact Walnut Canyon National 
Monument. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional 
claimants come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Walnut Canyon National Monument at the address 
below by October 29, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Diane Chung, Superintendent, Walnut Canyon

[[Page 59659]]

National Monument, 6400 N. Hwy 89, Flagstaff, AZ 86004, telephone (928) 
526-1157 ext. 227.

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 and 
associated funerary objects in the possession of Walnut Canyon National 
Monument. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from a site within the boundaries of Walnut Canyon National 
Monument in Coconino County, AZ.
    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 
Superintendent, Walnut Canyon National Monument.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Walnut 
Canyon National Monument professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona; Havasupai 
Tribe of the Havasupai Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; 
Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians of 
the Kaibab Indian Reservation, Arizona; Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico 
(formerly the Pueblo of Santo Domingo); Mescalero Apache Tribe of the 
Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & 
Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of San Juan); 
Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, 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 
Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; San Carlos Apache Tribe 
of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona; San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe 
of Arizona; Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe 
of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Apache Nation of the 
Camp Verde Indian Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the 
Yavapai Reservation, Arizona; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The Pueblo of San Felipe, 
New Mexico, was contacted, but did not have an internal process to 
address the issue of repatriation. Hereafter, all tribes listed above 
are referred to as ``The Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1966 and 1968, human remains representing a minimum of 34 
individuals were removed from the Anniversary Site, within Walnut 
Canyon National Monument in Coconino County, AZ, during a legally 
authorized National Park Service and Northern Arizona University 
excavation. No known individuals were identified. The 443 associated 
funerary objects are 351 beads, 10 bowls, 4 jars, 6 ladles, 7 un-worked 
animal bones, 4 bags of un-worked animal bones, 6 bone artifacts, 5 
rubbing/polishing stones, 4 flake tools, 4 bags of ceramic sherds, 2 
ceramic sherds, 3 projectile points, 3 pendants, 2 ground stone 
artifacts, 2 nodules, 2 scrapers, 2 bifaces, 2 un-worked stones, 2 
boxes of soil, 6 boxes of wood fragments, 1 anvil, 1 ceramic artifact, 
1 worked ceramic sherd, 2 manos, 1 metate, 1 arrow shaft straightener, 
1 awl, 1 figurine, 1 bag of charcoal, 1 drill, 1 chopper, 1 painted 
wood staff, 1 unworked shell, 1 worked stone, and 1 box of pigment.
    All of the human remains have been analyzed by physical 
anthropologists who have determined them to be Native American. All 
burials were excavated from the midden immediately adjacent to and 
contemporaneous with the site. Individuals were found lying in 
extended, supine positions, with the exception of one individual who 
was found loosely flexed at the knees. On the basis of architecture and 
ceramics, the site is dated to A.D. 1100-1200.
    Evidence demonstrating continuity between the people of Walnut 
Canyon in the 1100s and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of 
the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, includes similarities in material 
culture, architecture, mortuary practices, settlement patterns, and 
agricultural methods. Both Hopi and Zuni oral histories indicate 
connections to the people of the Anniversary Site specifically and of 
Walnut Canyon generally. In addition, the Hopi trace four clans and the 
Zuni trace several medicine societies to prehistoric Walnut Canyon.

Determinations Made by Walnut Canyon National Monument

    Officials of Walnut Canyon National Monument have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 34 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 443 objects 
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.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Diane Chung, Superintendent, Walnut Canyon 
National Monument, 6400 N. Hwy 89, Flagstaff, AZ 86004; telephone (928) 
526-1157 ext. 227, before October 29, 2012. Repatriation of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona 
and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Walnut Canyon National Monument is responsible for notifying The 
Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 24, 2012.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-23930 Filed 9-27-12; 8:45 am]
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