[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 202 (Tuesday, October 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63583-63585]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-26619]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-19337: 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 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 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 November 19, 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.
    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 
Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne and 
Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho 
Tribes of Oklahoma); Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Fort Sill Apache Tribe 
of Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of

[[Page 63584]]

the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the 
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Pueblo of San Felipe, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, 
New Mexico; Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, 
South Dakota; Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; 
Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; 
Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; 
Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New 
Mexico & Utah; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The 
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek 
Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Tribe of Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe 
(previously listed as the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge 
Reservation, South Dakota); Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (previously 
listed as the Pueblo of San Juan); Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; and 
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota 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

    On November 13, 2013, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were discovered in Weld County, CO. The Office of the State 
Archaeologist (OSAC) was notified that volunteers in St. Vrain Park in 
Weld County had discovered a cranium and a small number of post-cranial 
elements while cleaning flood debris following floods. There was no 
burial context. In January 2014, the human remains were transferred to 
OSAC by the Weld County Coroner, who ruled out forensic interest. They 
are identified as OAHP 302. Osteological analysis determined that the 
human remains are of Native American ancestry. No known individuals 
were identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    At the time of the discovery, the land on which the remains were 
discovered was not the tribal land of any Indian tribe. Between 
September and December 2014, History Colorado consulted with Indian 
tribes who are recognized as aboriginal to the area from which these 
Native American human remains were removed. These tribes are the 
Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne and 
Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho 
Tribes of Oklahoma); and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern 
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana. None of these Indian tribes 
agreed to accept control of the human remains. They requested in 
writing that this individual be dispostioned according to the 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 (Process). Consultation with the additional tribes listed under 
Consultation in this notice was conducted February to May 2015, to 
determine disposition. Under the Process, 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 agreed to 
accept disposition of the human remains.
    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 Great Plains Consultation Region as established by the Process, 
where this individual 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 land and the tribes with aboriginal land ties did not wish 
to accept disposition, 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 one individual 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

[[Page 63585]]

Liaison, History Colorado, 1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203, telephone 
(303) 866-4531, email [email protected] by November 19, 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: September 16, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-26619 Filed 10-19-15; 8:45 am]
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