[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 41 (Friday, March 1, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13888-13889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04780]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-12263; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
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 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs at the address 
below by April 1, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Anna Pardo, Museum Program Manager/NAGPRA Coordinator, U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs, 12220 Sunrise Valley Drive, 
Room 6084, Reston, VA 20191, telephone (703) 390-6343.

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, 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

    At unknown dates prior to and during 1943, cultural items were 
removed from a number of sites on the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Pinal County, AZ, during archeological excavations. The items were 
reportedly found in association with human burials, but the human 
remains are not present in the collections. The 283 unassociated 
funerary objects are 144 beads, 60 ceramic bowls, 4 figurines, 51 
ceramic jars, 3 mortars, 1 pipe, 11 ceramic plates, and 9 ceramic 
scoops.
    Archeological, biological, historical, kinship, linguistic, and 
oral traditional evidence, as well as a cultural affiliation study, 
indicate that 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 the Tohono 
O'odham Nation of Arizona (hereafter referred to as ``The Four Southern 
Tribes of Arizona'') all have cultural ties to the sites from which the 
above mentioned unassociated funerary objects were recovered.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, Washington, DC

    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 283 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 Four Southern Tribes 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 Anna Pardo, Museum Program Manager/NAGPRA Coordinator, U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs, 12220 Sunrise Valley Drive, 
Room 6084, Reston, VA 20191, telephone (703) 390-6343, before April 1, 
2013. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to The Four 
Southern Tribes of Arizona may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.

[[Page 13889]]

    The Bureau of Indian Affairs is responsible for notifying The Four 
Southern Tribes of Arizona that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 1, 2013.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2013-04780 Filed 2-28-13; 8:45 am]
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