[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 81 (Tuesday, April 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23586-23588]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09863]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-18044; 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. 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 at the address in this notice by May 28, 2015.

ADDRESSES: John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, P.O. Box 210026, 
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, 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, Tucson, AZ (ASM). The human 
remains were removed from sites within the boundaries of the Fort 
Apache Indian Reservation, Gila and Navajo Counties, 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 ASM 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1987, fragmentary human remains representing, at minimum, three 
individuals were removed from the Hilltop Ruin Site, AZ P:14:12(ASM) in 
Navajo County, AZ, during a legally-authorized survey conducted by the 
University of Arizona Archaeological Field School. The human remains 
were collected by field school staff during survey of several sites 
that had been subjected to vandalism. The human remains were brought to 
the University of Arizona at the conclusion of the field school, but 
were not accessioned at that time. The human remains were rediscovered 
by Arizona State Museum curators in 2014. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    The Hilltop Ruin is a pueblo site of 75 to 100 rooms. The ceramic 
types indicate that the village was occupied during the period A.D. 
1300 to 1400. These characteristics are consistent with the 
archeologically described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo 
traditions.
    In 1987, fragmentary human remains representing, at minimum, two 
individuals were removed from an unnamed site, AZ V:2:22(ASM) in Navajo 
County, AZ, during a legally-authorized survey conducted by the 
University of Arizona Archaeological Field School. The human remains 
were

[[Page 23587]]

collected by field school staff during survey of several sites that had 
been subjected to vandalism. The human remains were brought to the 
University of Arizona at the conclusion of the field school, but were 
not accessioned at that time. The human remains were rediscovered by 
Arizona State Museum curators in 2014. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    AZ V:2:22(ASM) is described as a small pueblo site with a large 
quantity of surface pottery fragments and possibly including garden 
plots. Based on the ceramic assemblage, the site likely dates to the 
late Mogollon period. These characteristics are consistent with the 
archeologically described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo 
traditions.
    In 1987, fragmentary human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from Canyon Butte Pueblo, AZ V:2:49(ASM) in 
Gila County, AZ, during a legally-authorized survey conducted by the 
University of Arizona Archaeological Field School. The human remains 
were collected by field school staff during survey of several sites 
that had been subjected to vandalism. The human remains were brought to 
the University of Arizona at the conclusion of the field school, but 
were not accessioned at that time. The human remains were rediscovered 
by Arizona State Museum curators in 2014. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Canyon Butte Pueblo is an L-shaped masonry building of 40 to 65 
rooms, with a walled plaza. The architectural forms and ceramic types 
indicate that the village was occupied during the period A.D. 1275-
1400. These characteristics are consistent with the archeologically 
described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo traditions.
    A detailed discussion of the basis for cultural affiliation of 
archeological sites in the region where the above sites are located may 
be found in ``Cultural Affiliation Assessment of White Mountain Apache 
Tribal Lands (Fort Apache Indian Reservation),'' by John R. Welch and 
T.J. Ferguson (2005). To summarize, archeologists have used the terms 
Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo to define the 
archeological complexes represented by the sites listed above. Material 
culture characteristics of these traditions include a temporal 
progression from earlier pit houses to later masonry pueblos, villages 
organized in room blocks of contiguous dwellings associated with 
plazas, rectangular kivas, polished and paint-decorated ceramics, 
unpainted corrugated ceramics, inhumation burials, cradleboard cranial 
deformation, grooved stone axes, and bone artifacts. The combination of 
the material culture attributes and a subsistence pattern, which 
included hunting and gathering augmented by maize agriculture, helps to 
identify an earlier group. Archeologists have also remarked that there 
are strong similarities between this earlier group and present-day 
tribes included in the Western Pueblo ethnographic group, especially 
the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico. The similarities in ceramic traditions, burial practices, 
architectural forms, and settlement patterns have led archeologists to 
believe that the prehistoric inhabitants of the Mogollon Rim region 
migrated north and west to the Hopi mesas, and north and east to the 
Zuni River Valley. Certain objects found in Upland Mogollon 
archeological sites have been found to have strong resemblances to 
ritual paraphernalia that are used in continuing religious practices by 
the Hopi and Zuni. Some petroglyphs on the Fort Apache Indian 
Reservation have also persuaded archeologists of continuities between 
the earlier identified group and current-day Western Pueblo people. 
Biological information from the site of Grasshopper Pueblo, which is 
located in close proximity to the sites listed above, supports the view 
that the prehistoric occupants of the Upland Mogollon region had 
migrated from various locations to the north and west of the region.
    Hopi and Zuni oral traditions parallel the archeological evidence 
for migration. Migration figures prominently in Hopi oral tradition, 
which refers to the ancient sites, pottery, stone tools, petroglyphs, 
and other artifacts left behind by the ancestors as ``Hopi 
Footprints.'' This migration history is complex and detailed, and 
includes traditions relating specific clans to the Mogollon region. 
Hopi cultural advisors have also identified medicinal and culinary 
plants at archeological sites in the region. Their knowledge about 
these plants was passed down to them from the ancestors who inhabited 
these ancient sites. Migration is also an important attribute of Zuni 
oral tradition, and includes accounts of Zuni ancestors passing through 
the Upland Mogollon region. The ancient villages mark the routes of 
these migrations. Zuni cultural advisors remark that the ancient sites 
were not abandoned. People returned to these places from time to time, 
either to reoccupy them or for the purpose of religious pilgrimages--a 
practice that has continued to the present-day. Archeologists have 
found ceramic evidence at shrines in the Upland Mogollon region that 
confirms these reports. Zuni cultural advisors have names for plants 
endemic to the Mogollon region that do not grow on the Zuni 
Reservation. They also have knowledge about traditional medicinal and 
ceremonial uses for these resources, which has been passed down to them 
from their ancestors. Furthermore, Hopi and Zuni cultural advisors have 
recognized that their ancestors may have been co-resident at some of 
the sites in this region during their ancestral migrations.
    There are differing points of view regarding the possible presence 
of Apache people in the Upland Mogollon region during the time that 
these ancient sites were occupied. Some Apache traditions describe 
interactions with Ancestral Puebloan people during this time, but 
according to these stories, Puebloan people and Apache people were 
regarded as having separate identities. The White Mountain Apache Tribe 
of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona, does not claim cultural 
affiliation with the human remains from these ancestral Upland Mogollon 
sites. As reported by Welch and Ferguson (2005), consultations between 
the White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, 
Arizona, and the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Pueblo of 
Acoma, New Mexico; and Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico, have indicated 
that none of these tribes wish to pursue claims of affiliation with 
sites on White Mountain Apache Tribal lands. Finally, the White 
Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona, supports 
the repatriation of human remains from these ancestral Upland Mogollon 
sites and is ready to assist the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, in their reburial.

Determinations Made by the Arizona State Museum

    Officials of the Arizona State Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 6 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

[[Page 23588]]

remains and the Hopi Tribe of 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, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 626-2950, by May 28, 2015. 
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains to the Hopi Tribe of Arizona 
and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed.
    The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 2, 2015.
Mariah Soriano,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-09863 Filed 4-27-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P