[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 94 (Thursday, May 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27914-27915]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-11256]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-15435; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, San Luis Field Office, Monte Vista, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management 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. Lineal descendants or representatives of 
any Indian tribe 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 Bureau of Land 
Management. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Indian tribes stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe 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 
Bureau of Land Management at the address in this notice by June 16, 
2014.

ADDRESSES: Dan Haas, State Archaeologist, Bureau of Land Management, 
Colorado State Office, 2850 Youngfield Street, Lakewood, CO 80215-7076, 
telephone (303) 239-3647, 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 U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, San Luis Field Office, Monte 
Vista, CO and in the physical custody of the University of Denver 
Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from site 5CN26 in Conejos County, CO. 
This notice establishes the transfer of custody from the University of 
Denver, Museum of Anthropology to the Bureau of Land Management, San 
Luis Field Office.
    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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
University of Denver Museum of Anthropology professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, Forest Service; the U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs; the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Land Management, San Luis Field Office; and the Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Navajo Nation, Arizona, 
New Mexico & Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (previously listed as the 
Pueblo of San Juan); Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico;

[[Page 27915]]

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 Pojoaque, 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 Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; and the Zuni Tribe of the 
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The University of Denver Museum of 
Anthropology also sent reports and solicited feedback via telephone and 
correspondence with representatives from the Colorado River Indian 
Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and 
California; Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico (previously listed as the Pueblo of 
Santo Domingo); Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; and the Ysleta Del Sur 
Pueblo of Texas. Hereafter, all tribes listed in this section are 
referred to as ``The Consulted and Notified Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1950, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
(catalog number DU CO X:16:12) were recovered from site 5CN26 in 
Conejos County, CO, on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management, San Luis Field Office, probably by Harry Christopher 
Meyers, Jr., who recorded the site card and conducted a survey of the 
area for his master's thesis. Mr. Meyers' thesis is on file at the 
University of Denver, Department of Anthropology, dated May 1950. In 
his thesis, Mr. Meyers thanks Mr. Mercedes Ortiz, of Conejos, CO, for 
his aid in ``the survey'' of portions of the San Luis Valley. Mr. Ortiz 
was likely a local landowner who acted as a guide. Although the thesis 
provides a likely contextual framework for the areas examined and the 
types of sites recorded, site 5CN26 was recorded in August 1950 but is 
not referenced in any report. No known individual was identified. The 
nine associated funerary objects are seven black-on-white sherds, one 
obsidian core, and one chipped stone.
    Black-on-white pottery indicates this site is ancestral Puebloan. 
The scientific literature provides significant evidence of cultural 
affiliation between ancestral Puebloan culture and the Pueblos of 
today. Mr. Meyers' thesis work was specifically looking for Puebloan 
sites. Additionally, a likely source for the obsidian is New Mexico, 
which further supports a Puebloan affiliation.
    The site card describes a cave with an opening onto a flat plain, 
dropping down over 10 feet. The interior of the cave is reported to 
consist of four rooms containing dry laid stone walls, lithic debitage, 
and pottery sherds. The main, or upper room, is described as opening 
directly off of the opening. Its walls were apparently about 2\1/2\ 
feet high. The three other rooms appear to be contiguous, extending 
back inside the cave. An attempt to relocate site 5CN26 was undertaken 
by an unknown individual at an unknown date (presumably after the mid-
1980s based on the form used). Notes of this visit to the area are 
recorded on a Cultural Resource Reevaluation Form on file at the 
Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. The 
researcher notes that the legal location data on the old site card was 
poor, so the southern half of the listed section and the northern half 
of the neighboring section were extensively searched, but ``no evidence 
of the site could be found.''
    In 1995, the University of Denver Museum of Anthropology conducted 
an inventory of their collections, and the site forms and maps for site 
5CN26 documented that the site was located on private land. In 2012, 
the Bureau of Land Management field visited the location of site 5CN26 
and determined that it is located on lands administered by the Bureau 
of Land Management. The University of Denver Museum of Anthropology 
will physically transfer the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Bureau of Land Management, San Luis Field Office for 
repatriation.

Determinations Made by the Bureau of Land Management

    Officials of the Bureau of Land Management 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 nine objects 
described in this notice 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; Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico (previously listed as the 
Pueblo of Santo Domingo); Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly 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; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe 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 Dan Haas, 
State Archaeologist, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office, 
2850 Youngfield Street, Lakewood, CO 80215-7076, telephone (303) 239-
3647, email [email protected], by June 16, 2014. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico (previously listed as the Pueblo of 
Santo Domingo); Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly 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; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico may proceed.
    The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted and Notified Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 31, 2014.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-11256 Filed 5-14-14; 8:45 am]
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