[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21902-21903]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08452]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20669;PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: History Colorado, 
formerly Colorado Historical Society, Denver, CO

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: History Colorado, in consultation with the appropriate Indian 
tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the 
cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of 
any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this 
notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written 
request to History Colorado. If no additional claimants come forward, 
transfer of control of the cultural items 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 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to History Colorado at the address 
in this notice by May 13, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Sheila Goff, 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of History Colorado that meet the definition of unassociated 
funerary objects, under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    Some time prior to 1916, two cultural items were removed from a Ute 
grave located on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in Colorado by an 
Indian Agent. They were first loaned to the museum in 1916 and later 
donated. The unassociated funerary objects consist of a small mass of 
partially melted glass beads and a basketry water jar. The donor 
reported that the mass of beads was among the belongings of the 
deceased that had been burned when the individual was originally 
buried. Ute people traditionally burned the belongings of the deceased 
as part of the death rite. The basketry water jar had been placed 
nearby also as part of the death rite. There is no evidence that the 
human remains came to History Colorado.

[[Page 21903]]

    Geographical evidence, burial context and practices, and museum 
records support affiliation with and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of 
the Southern Ute Indian Reservation and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute 
Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

Determinations Made by History Colorado

    Officials of the History Colorado have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the two cultural items 
described above 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the 
Southern Ute Indian Reservation and the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute 
Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Sheila Goff, 1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 
80203, telephone (303) 866-4531, email [email protected], by May 
13, 2016. After that date, if no additional claimants have come 
forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary objects to 
the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation 
and the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, 
New Mexico and Utah may proceed.
    History Colorado is responsible for notifying the Southern Ute 
Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Indian Reservation, Colorado; the Ute 
Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah and the Ute 
Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico 
and Utah that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 21, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-08452 Filed 4-12-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P