[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35771-35772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14731]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-15774; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, El Morro National Monument, Ramah, NM

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, El 
Morro National Monument 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 El 
Morro National Monument. 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 El Morro National Monument at the address in 
this notice by July 24, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Mitzi Frank, Superintendent, El Morro and El Malpais 
National Monuments, 123 East Roosevelt Avenue, Grants, NM 87020, 
telephone (505) 285-4641, 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, National Park Service, El Morro National Monument, Ramah, 
NM. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from 
El Morro National Monument, Cibola County, NM.
    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, El Morro National Monument.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by El Morro 
National Monument professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; 
Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico (hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted Tribes'').
    The following tribes were invited to consult but did not 
participate: Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico (previously 
listed as the Pueblo of Santo Domingo); Mescalero Apache Tribe of the 
Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; and Pueblo of 
Zia, New Mexico (hereafter referred to as ``The Invited Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1954 and 1955, human remains representing, at minimum, 14 
individuals were removed from Atsinna Pueblo in Cibola County, NM. The 
human remains were removed during legally authorized excavations by 
Richard B. Woodbury under the auspices of the Department of 
Anthropology, Columbia University, New York, NY. No known individuals 
were identified. The 16 associated funerary objects are 1 cordage 
fragment, 1 textile fragment, 1 projectile point, 1 chopper, 1 bag of 
plaque fragments, 1 wooden pump drill, 2 pieces of worked wood, 1 
bivalve shell, 1 prayer stick, 1 ground stone maul, 2 bags of worked 
turkey bone, 1 bag of unworked turkey bone, 1 canine tooth, and 1 bag 
of unworked small mammal bone.
    In 1961, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed from Atsinna Pueblo in Cibola County, NM. The legally 
authorized excavations were conducted by Joel Shiner and Roland Richart 
of the National Park Service. No known individuals were identified. The 
eight associated funerary objects are one ground stone abrader, two 
bags of unworked turkey bone, one ground stone maul, one textile 
fragment, one twined wicker basket fragment, one fragment of bark 
matting, and one pinyon nut.
    Ceramic and tree-ring evidence indicate that the pueblo was built 
around A.D. 1275 and was occupied through the mid-1300s. Evidence 
demonstrating continuity between the people of Atsinna Pueblo from A.D. 
1275-1300 and the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico, and the Zuni Tribe of 
the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, includes similarities in 
architecture, material culture, mortuary practices, and settlement 
patterns. Oral histories of both the Pueblo of Acoma and Zuni Tribe 
support cultural continuity between the Pueblo of Acoma and the Zuni 
Tribe and the people of Atsinna Pueblo, which is known as Heshoda Yalta 
in the Zuni Language. For example, many Zuni migration and origin 
stories recount the journey from their place of emergence, deep within 
the canyon along the Colorado River, to the Middle Place now known as 
Zuni Pueblo, with Heshoda Yalta as a stopping point along the way. 
Pictographs and petroglyphs important to the Zuni tribe and Pueblo of 
Acoma are found near Atsinna Pueblo. During consultation, both the Zuni 
Tribe and the Pueblo of Acoma described the historic Zuni Acoma trail, 
which connects the two present day pueblos and runs through El Morro 
National Monument, as used for regular foot traffic and an access route 
to various sacred places. The contemporary significance and continued 
cultural use of the pictographs, petroglyphs, and trail are further 
evidence of the continuity between the people of Atsinna Pueblo from 
A.D. 1275-1300 and the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico, and the Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.

Determinations Made By El Morro National Monument

    Officials of El Morro 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 17 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.

[[Page 35772]]

     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 24 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 Pueblo 
of Acoma, New Mexico, and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico.

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 Mitzi Frank, Superintendent, El Morro and El 
Malpais National Monuments, 123 East Roosevelt Avenue, Grants, NM 
87020, telephone (505) 285-4641, email [email protected], by July 
24, 2014. After that date, if no additional requestors have come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico, and Zuni Tribe of 
the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed.
    El Morro National Monument is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted Tribes and The Invited Tribes that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: May 7, 2014.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-14731 Filed 6-23-14; 8:45 am]
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