[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17488-17490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07398]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-17698; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Arizona State Museum, University 
of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona has completed 
an inventory of human remains, 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 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 should submit a written request to the Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona. If no additional requestors come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains 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 should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to the 
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona at the address in this 
notice by May 1, 2015.

[[Page 17489]]


ADDRESSES: John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone 
(520) 626-2950.

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 under 
the control of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, 
AZ. The human remains were removed from a site in Yavapai 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 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains. 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 Arizona 
State Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona; Gila River 
Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt 
River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; Yavapai-
Prescott Indian Tribe (previously listed as the Yavapai-Prescott Tribe 
of the Yavapai Reservation, Arizona); and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1936-1940, human remains representing, at minimum, four 
individuals were removed from Montezuma Well, AZ O:5:92(ASM), in 
Yavapai County, AZ. The burials were excavated by William Back, who was 
the landowner before the property was purchased by the National Park 
Service. The fragmentary human remains, all representing adult 
individuals, were accessioned by the Arizona State Museum on an unknown 
date prior to 1951. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Montezuma Well is a large limestone sinkhole filled with warm 
spring water that has served as an important resource for wildlife and 
people of the Verde Valley for thousands of years. The earliest 
evidence of human occupation near the well consists of Hohokam pit 
houses and irrigation structures dating to about A.D. 700. Beginning 
about A.D. 1100, people characterized by archeologists as Sinagua 
appeared in the Montezuma Well area and established a small pueblo on 
the rim of the well. Two burial areas were located in the well 
vicinity. These areas appear to have been most heavily utilized during 
the Honanki and Tuzigoot phases, A.D. 1125-1400, based on ceramic 
typologies.
    The Ak Chin Indian Community of Maricopa (Ak Chin) 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 comprise one cultural group known as the O'odham. Material 
culture items found at the site, including associated funerary objects, 
demonstrate continuity between the prehistoric occupants of the 
Montezuma Well area and the O'odham. Locally made plainware ceramics 
are similar in construction and appearance to plainware ceramics made 
in lands attributed to the Hohokam archeological culture, commonly 
considered to be ancestral O'odham. Consultation with O'odham tribes 
also includes oral traditions that describe ancestral O'odham people 
living in the region.
    The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona, traces ancestry to 
Yavapai bands once living in the Verde Valley. Consultation with 
Yavapai tribes indicates the existence of a specific ancestral name for 
Montezuma Well, oral traditions that attribute the rooms built around 
the well to Yavapai ancestors, and a belief that the well was a place 
of emergence for the Yavapai people. Archeological sites identified as 
Yavapai have also been found in the same region.
    The Hopi Tribe of Arizona considers all of Arizona to be within 
traditional Hopi lands or within areas where Hopi clans migrated in the 
past. Evidence demonstrating continuity between the people of Montezuma 
Well and the Hopi Tribe includes archeological, anthropological, 
linguistic, folkloric and oral traditions. Burial patterns noted at 
Montezuma Well are also similar in appearance to burials at other 
ancestral Hopi sites. During consultation, Hopi clan members also 
identified ancestral names and traditional stories about specific 
events and ancestral people at Montezuma Well.
    The Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe (previously listed as the 
Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai Reservation, Arizona) traces 
ancestry to Yavapai bands once living in the Verde Valley. Consultation 
with Yavapai tribes indicates the existence of a specific ancestral 
name for Montezuma Well, oral traditions that attribute the rooms built 
around the well to Yavapai ancestors, and a belief that the well was a 
place of emergence for the Yavapai people. Archeological sites 
identified as Yavapai have also been in the same region.
    The Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, considers the 
Verde Valley to be within the migration path of ancestral Zuni people. 
Archeological evidence demonstrates continuity between the people of 
the Montezuma Well region and the people of Zuni. Material culture 
items, such as ceramic designs, are similar in appearance and 
construction to historic Zuni items.

Determinations Made by the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona

    Officials of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of four individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     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 the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa 
(Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, 
Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa 
Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham 
Nation of Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe (previously listed as 
the Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai Reservation, Arizona); 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 should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to John 
McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum, University of 
Arizona, P.O. Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 626-2950, 
by May 1, 2015. After that date, if no additional requestors have come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the Ak Chin Indian 
Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin)

[[Page 17490]]

Indian Reservation, Arizona; Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona; 
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, 
Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation 
of Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe (previously listed as the 
Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai Reservation, Arizona); and Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, may proceed.
    The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying the Ak Chin 
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of 
the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt 
River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, 
Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Indian 
Tribe (previously listed as the Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai 
Reservation, Arizona); and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 17, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-07398 Filed 3-31-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P