[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 168 (Monday, August 31, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52488-52489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21493]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-18957; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: History Colorado, Formerly 
Colorado Historical Society, Denver, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: History Colorado, formerly Colorado Historical Society, has 
completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has 
determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and any present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations. Representatives of any Indian tribe 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 History Colorado. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains to the Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: 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 History Colorado 
at the address in this notice by September 30, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Sheila Goff, NAGPRA Liaison, History Colorado, 1200 
Broadway, Denver, CO 80203, telephone (303) 866-4531, 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 under 
the control of History Colorado, Denver, CO. Seven sets of remains were 
received from the Montezuma County Coroner. They were recovered from 
the vicinity of Cortez or Rangely, Colorado.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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 History 
Colorado professional staff 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); 
Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero 
Reservation, New Mexico; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; 
Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah (Cedar Band of Paiutes, Kanosh Band of 
Paiutes, Koosharem Band of Paiutes, Indian Peaks Band of Paiutes and 
the Shivwits Band of Paiutes) (formerly Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah 
(Cedar City Band of Paiutes, Kanosh Band of Paiutes, Koosharem Band of 
Paiutes, Indian Peaks Band of Paiutes, and Shivwits Band of Paiutes)); 
Pueblo of Acoma, 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 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; Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming;

[[Page 52489]]

Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Indian 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 Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico. The Apache Tribe of Oklahoma, Crow Creek Sioux 
Tribe of the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation, South Dakota; Fort Sill 
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (previously listed 
as the Pueblo of San Juan); Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New 
Mexico and Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation were 
invited to consult, but did not participate. Hereafter, all tribes 
listed above are referred to as ``The Consulted and Invited Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    Sometime before 1977, human remains representing, at minimum, six 
individuals were removed from the vicinity of Cortez or Rangely, CO, by 
private citizens. Their son discovered the remains when settling his 
parents' estate and was put in touch with the Montezuma County Coroner, 
who ruled out a forensic interest in the human remains October 2014. 
The remains were then transferred to the Office of the State 
Archaeologist (OSAC), where they are identified as Office of 
Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) Case Number 307. 
Osteological analysis by Nicholas Zell of Metropolitan State University 
indicates that the human remains are likely of Native American 
ancestry. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Sometime in the 1950s, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from a farm near Cortez, CO, by a private 
citizen. His wife discovered them among her late husband's possessions. 
In September 2014, she turned them over to the Montezuma County 
Coroner, who ruled out forensic interest in the human remains. In 
January 2015, the remains were transferred to the Office of the State 
Archaeologist (OSAC), where they are identified as Office of 
Archaeology and Historic Preservation (OAHP) Case Number 308. 
Osteological analysis by Christiane Baigent of Metropolitan State 
University indicates that the human remains are likely of Native 
American ancestry. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    History Colorado, in partnership with the Colorado Commission of 
Indian Affairs, Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute 
Reservation, Colorado, and the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah, conducted tribal 
consultations among the tribes with ancestral ties to the State of 
Colorado to develop the process for disposition of culturally 
unidentifiable Native American human remains and associated funerary 
objects originating from inadvertent discoveries on Colorado State and 
private lands. As a result of the consultation, a process was 
developed, Process for Consultation, Transfer, and Reburial of 
Culturally Unidentifiable Native American Human Remains and Associated 
Funerary Objects Originating From Inadvertent Discoveries on Colorado 
State and Private Lands, (2008, unpublished, on file with the Colorado 
Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation). The tribes consulted 
are those who have expressed their wishes to be notified of discoveries 
in the Southwest and Basin and Plateau Consultation Regions as 
established by the Process, where these individuals originated.
    The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review 
Committee (Review Committee) is responsible for recommending specific 
actions for disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains. On 
November 3-4, 2006, the Process was presented to the Review Committee 
for consideration. A January 8, 2007, letter on behalf of the Review 
Committee from the Designated Federal Officer transmitted the 
provisional authorization to proceed with the Process upon receipt of 
formal responses from the Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico, and the 
Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, subject to forthcoming conditions 
imposed by the Secretary of the Interior. On May 15-16, 2008, the 
responses from the Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico, and the Kiowa 
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma were submitted to the Review Committee. On 
September 23, 2008, the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and 
Parks, as the designee for the Secretary of the Interior, transmitted 
the authorization for the disposition of culturally unidentifiable 
human remains according to the Process and NAGPRA, pending publication 
of a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register. This 
notice fulfills that requirement.
    43 CFR 10.11 was promulgated on March 15, 2010, to provide a 
process for the disposition of culturally unidentifiable Native 
American human remains recovered from tribal or aboriginal lands as 
established by the final judgment of the Indian Claims Commission or 
U.S. Court of Claims, a treaty, Act of Congress, or Executive Order, or 
other authoritative governmental sources. As there is no evidence 
indicating that the human remains reported in this notice originated 
from tribal or aboriginal lands, they are eligible for disposition 
under the Process.

Determinations Made by History Colorado

    Officials of History Colorado have determined that:
     Based on osteological analysis, the human remains are 
Native American.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of seven individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(2)(ii) and the Process, the 
disposition of the human remains may be to the Southern Ute Indian 
Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado, and the Ute Mountain 
Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    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 Sheila Goff, NAGPRA Liaison, History 
Colorado, 1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203, telephone (303) 866-4531, 
email [email protected], by September 30, 2015. After that date, 
if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of 
the human remains to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute 
Reservation, Colorado, and the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain 
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah may proceed.
    History Colorado is responsible for notifying The Consulted and 
Invited Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 29, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-21493 Filed 8-28-15; 8:45 am]
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