[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21407-21408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08382]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-12547; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 
Grand Canyon National Park 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 Grand Canyon National Park. 
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 Grand Canyon National Park at the address below 
by May 10, 2013.

ADDRESSES: David Uberuaga, Superintendent, Grand Canyon National Park, 
P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023, telephone (928) 638-7945.

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 Grand Canyon National 
Park, Grand Canyon, AZ. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Muav Cave, Mohave 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, Grand Canyon National Park.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Grand Canyon 
National Park professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai Reservation, Arizona; Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians of the Kaibab 
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians of the 
Las Vegas Indian Colony, Nevada; Moapa Band of Paiute Indians of the 
Moapa River Indian Reservation, Nevada; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New 
Mexico, & Utah; Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah (Cedar Band of Paiutes, 
Kanosh Band of Paiutes, Koosharem Band of Paiutes, Indian Peaks Band of 
Paiutes, and Shivwits Band of Paiutes) (formerly Paiute Indian Tribe of 
Utah (Cedar City Band of Paiutes, Kanosh Band of Paiutes, Koosharem 
Band of Paiutes, Indian Peaks Band of Paiutes, and Shivwits Band of 
Paiutes)); San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain 
Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Apache 
Nation of the Camp Verde Indian Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of 
the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico (hereafter referred to as ``The 
Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1936, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from the Muav Cave site in Mohave County, AZ, during 
legally authorized excavations by National Park Service archeologists 
under the direction of Willis Evans. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were stored at the National Park Service's Western 
Archeological and Conservation Center in Tucson, AZ, until 2002, when 
they were transferred to Grand Canyon National Park. No known 
individuals were identified. The associated funerary objects are 70 
burned olivella shell beads and olivella shell bead fragments.
    The Muav Cave site is not well-dated. However, ceramics, unfired 
pottery, yucca chews, yucca fiber, animal bones, and chipped stone 
tools indicate occupation sometime after A.D. 1300.
    The artifacts found at Muav Cave are consistent with materials 
identified by archeologists as associated with the Cerbat culture. 
Considered the ancestors of the Pai people, the Cerbat are believed to 
have migrated to the Grand Canyon around the 1300s. Their descendants, 
two Pai groups who eventually divided into what are now known as the 
Hualapai and Havasupai tribes, remained in the region. Aquarius 
brownware and Lower Colorado buffware ceramics, locally procured lithic 
tools, geography, and the known protohistoric occupation of the area by 
the Cerbat people, indicate historical ties between inhabitants of Muav 
Cave and the Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai Reservation, Arizona, and 
the Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, Arizona.
    Geography, place names, and oral history indicate historical ties 
between the inhabitants of Muav Cave and several of the Southern Paiute 
tribes (Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians, Las Vegas Tribe of Paiute 
Indians, Moapa Band of Paiute Indians, and Shivwits Band of Paiutes).

Determinations Made by Grand Canyon National Park

    Officials of Grand Canyon National Park have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 70 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 
Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai Reservation, Arizona; Hualapai Indian 
Tribe of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, Arizona; Kaibab Band of 
Paiute Indians of the Kaibab Indian Reservation, Arizona; Las Vegas 
Tribe of Paiute Indians of the Las Vegas Indian Colony, Nevada; Moapa 
Band of Paiute Indians of the Moapa River Indian Reservation, Nevada; 
and Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah (Cedar Band of Paiutes, Kanosh Band of 
Paiutes, Koosharem Band of Paiutes, Indian Peaks Band of Paiutes, and 
Shivwits Band of Paiutes) (formerly Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah (Cedar 
City Band of Paiutes, Kanosh Band of Paiutes, Koosharem Band of 
Paiutes, Indian Peaks Band of Paiutes, and Shivwits Band of Paiutes)).

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 David Uberuaga, Superintendent, Grand Canyon 
National Park, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, AZ 86023, telephone (928) 
638-7945, before May 10, 2013. Repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Havasupai Tribe of the Havasupai 
Reservation, Arizona; Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Kaibab

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Band of Paiute Indians of the Kaibab Indian Reservation, Arizona; Las 
Vegas Tribe of Paiute Indians of the Las Vegas Indian Colony, Nevada; 
Moapa Band of Paiute Indians of the Moapa River Indian Reservation, 
Nevada; and Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah (Cedar Band of Paiutes, Kanosh 
Band of Paiutes, Koosharem Band of Paiutes, Indian Peaks Band of 
Paiutes, and Shivwits Band of Paiutes) (formerly Paiute Indian Tribe of 
Utah (Cedar City Band of Paiutes, Kanosh Band of Paiutes, Koosharem 
Band of Paiutes, Indian Peaks Band of Paiutes, and Shivwits Band of 
Paiutes)) may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    Grand Canyon National Park is responsible for notifying The Tribes 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 11, 2013.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2013-08382 Filed 4-9-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P