[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 109 (Thursday, June 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34125-34127]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13460]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-13011; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Forest Service, San Juan National Forest, Durango, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, San 
Juan National Forest has completed an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate 
Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that 
there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any 
Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this 
notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains 
and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the 
San Juan National Forest. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian 
organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the San Juan National Forest at the address 
in this notice by July 8, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Julie Coleman, Heritage Program Manager, San Juan National 
Forest, 15 Burnett Court, Durango, CO 81301, telephone (970) 385-1250, 
email [email protected].

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 under the control of the USDA Forest 
Service, San Juan National Forest, Durango, CO. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from lands managed by the USDA 
Forest Service in LaPlata County, CO.
    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 human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

[[Page 34126]]

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by the USDA Forest Service; Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University; University of Colorado 
Museum of Natural History, Boulder; Fort Lewis College; and Mesa Verde 
National Park professional staffs, along with a team of research 
consultants, in consultation with representatives of the Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico 
(previously listed as the Pueblo of Santo Domingo); Navajo Nation, 
Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (previously 
listed as 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 Felipe, 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; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & 
Ouray Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of 
Texas; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1937 and 1938, human remains representing, at minimum, 49 
individuals were removed from the Falls Creek Rock Shelters (site 
5LP1434), in Animas Valley, north of Durango, in LaPlata County, CO. In 
1937, I. F. ``Zeke'' Flora conducted excavations without a permit in 
the burial crevice of the Falls Creek Rock Shelters, on lands managed 
by the USDA Forest Service. In 1938, Earl Morris, Department of 
Archaeology, The Carnegie Institution, conducted excavations in the 
north and south cave shelters of Falls Creek Rock Shelters, under 
permit by the USDA. In addition to the human remains and associated 
funerary objects described in this notice, unassociated funerary 
objects were removed from the burial crevice and north cave shelter and 
are the subject of a separate Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural 
Items published in the Federal Register.
    A portion of the Flora collection at the Falls Creek Rock Shelters 
was housed at the Durango Public Library, Durango, CO. In 1945, it was 
transferred into the custody of the Mesa Verde National Park at the 
request of the Forest Service. Flora transferred additional items he 
collected at the Falls Creek Rock Shelters into the custody of the Mesa 
Verde National Park between 1962 and 1963. In November 2009, Mesa Verde 
National Park transferred these items to the Anasazi Heritage Center in 
Dolores, CO, where they are currently located. Additionally, in 1999, 
USDA Forest Service Law Enforcement seized a hide robe from Flora's 
daughter that had been collected by Flora at the Falls Creek Rock 
Shelters. Subsequently, in 2009, Bureau of Land Management Law 
Enforcement seized items in the custody of Vern Crites of Durango, CO, 
that were removed by Flora in 1937 at the Falls Creek Rock Shelters. 
Finally, in 2011, the Center for Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, 
transferred to the Anasazi Heritage Center a necklace that had been 
excavated by Flora at the Falls Creek Rock Shelters and given to Fort 
Lewis College by Helen Sloan Daniels.
    The Morris collection at the Falls Creek Rock Shelters, as well as 
a portion of the Flora collection from the site purchased by Morris for 
The Carnegie Institution, was curated by the Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and by 
the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, Boulder, CO. In 
February 2009, these items were transferred into the custody of the 
Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, CO. Between February 2009 and March 
2013, a team of researchers at the Anasazi Heritage Center conducted an 
intensive non-destructive analysis of the all of the items collected by 
Morris and Flora at the Falls Creek Rock Shelters. This effort allowed 
researchers to re-associate human remains and funerary objects that had 
been separated and curated at different places, and to determine the 
unassociated funerary objects in the collection.
    The human remains representing, at minimum, 49 individuals from the 
Falls Creek Rock Shelters include: 29 individuals from the burial 
crevice (individuals 1-21, and 37-44); 16 individuals from the north 
cave shelter (individuals 22-30, 32-36, 45 and 46); 2 individuals from 
the south cave shelter (individuals 31 and 47); and 2 lots of 
commingled, disarticulated human remains that could not be re-
associated with specific individuals. No known individuals were 
identified. The 1,202 associated funerary objects include: 13 woven 
textiles (aprons, rabbit fur blankets, twined yucca bags, yucca bands, 
braided rabbit hair sashes); 8 baskets; 33 pieces of cordage made from 
human hair, yucca, and hide; 18 hide artifacts (including 2 hide 
wrappings); 3 mammal fur tufts; 4 stone artifacts; 2 bone artifacts; 7 
plant materials (including 2 juniper bark burial coverings); 460 stone 
beads; 470 shell beads; 2 bone beads; 176 juniper seed beads; and 4 
shell ornaments. The stone, shell, bone, juniper seed beads, and shell 
ornaments are from 9 separate necklaces.
    The Falls Creek Rock Shelters have been identified as a Basketmaker 
II habitation site, with the main occupation occurring between 300 B.C. 
and A.D. 400, based upon tree-ring dates. Archaeological, biological, 
and geographic evidence, along with oral traditions, indicate that the 
Basketmaker II populations of the Durango/Upper Animas District, in 
southwest Colorado, are culturally affiliated with the modern Puebloan 
people (Coleman 2013: 12). This includes the modern day tribes of the 
Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico (previously listed as 
the Pueblo of Santo Domingo); Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (previously 
listed as 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 Felipe, 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; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and 
the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico (hereafter referred 
to as ``The Tribes'').
    This determination is based upon the extensive review of currently 
available published and unpublished sources and information provided by 
Indian tribes during consultations. Archaeological evidence consists of 
chronological data, artifacts, and rock art. Recent DNA research also 
demonstrates a biological affiliation between Basketmaker II 
populations and modern Puebloans. Hopi and Zuni oral traditions provide 
additional information, including geographic evidence, for cultural 
affiliation between Basketmaker II and the present day Puebloan people.

[[Page 34127]]

Determinations made by the USDA Forest Service, San Juan National 
Forest

    Officials of the San Juan National Forest have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 49 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), there are 1,202 objects 
that 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 human 
remains and associated funerary objects and The Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Julie Coleman, Heritage Program Manager, San 
Juan National Forest, 15 Burnett Court, Durango, CO 81301, telephone 
(970) 385-1250, email [email protected], by July 8, 2013. After that 
date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to The 
Tribes may proceed.
    The San Juan National Forest is responsible for notifying the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kewa Pueblo, New 
Mexico (previously listed as the Pueblo of Santo Domingo); Navajo 
Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico 
(previously listed as 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 Felipe, 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; Southern Ute 
Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian 
Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Tribe of 
the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; Ysleta del 
Sur Pueblo of Texas; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 6, 2013.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2013-13460 Filed 6-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P