[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 11, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29297-29298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-11091]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20961; 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 June 10, 2016.

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. One set of human remains 
was relinquished to the County Coroner in Fremont County, 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); Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River 
Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Tribe of Montana; Comanche Nation, 
Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New 
Mexico; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian 
Reservation, Montana; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; 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; 
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated 
Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; and the Ute 
Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & 
Utah.
    The Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow 
Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; 
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); and Zuni Tribe of the 
Zuni Reservation, New

[[Page 29298]]

Mexico 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 12, 2015, the Fremont County Coroner took possession of 
one set of human remains from a private citizen who indicated they had 
been removed by her in about 1980 from a river bank on the Arkansas 
River near Coaldale, CO. After ruling out forensic interest the Coroner 
notified the Office of the State Archaeologist (OSAC), who took 
possession of the human remains in January 2016. The individual is an 
adult represented by a mandible and a small number of post-cranial 
elements and is identified as OAHP 312. Osteological analysis 
determined that the human remains are 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 Consulted and 
Invited Tribes are those who have expressed their wishes to be notified 
of discoveries in the Great Basin Consultation Region 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 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 Liaison, History 
Colorado, 1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203, telephone (303) 866-4531, 
email [email protected] by June 10, 2016. 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: April 27, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-11091 Filed 5-10-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P