[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 232 (Friday, December 2, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87057-87059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28961]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22425; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: The United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, and

[[Page 87058]]

the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, have completed an 
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, and have determined that there is a cultural affiliation 
between the human remains and associated funerary objects 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 and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request to the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona. If 
no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects 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 and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the Arizona State Museum, University of 
Arizona at the address in this notice by January 3, 2017.

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 and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the 
physical custody of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, 
Tucson, AZ (ASM). The human remains were removed from locations within 
the boundaries of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, Apache, 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

    On an unknown date prior to 1979, human remains representing, at 
minimum, 1 individual were removed from the Salt River Draw region, (AZ 
P:14:--Salt River Draw) in Navajo County, AZ. The human remains were 
found with collections obtained by the University of Arizona 
Grasshopper Field School, but are marked with an incomplete site 
number. It is likely that the human remains were removed from the site 
of Grasshopper Pueblo, AZ P:14:1(ASM) or one of the nearby sites 
investigated by the field school during the years 1963-1979. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    The Grasshopper Pueblo site is a large village site containing 
approximately 500 rooms in more than a dozen stone room blocks arranged 
around three main plazas. The site has been dated from A.D. 1275-1400, 
based on tree ring dates, architectural forms, building technology, and 
ceramic styles. These characteristics, the mortuary pattern and other 
items of material culture are consistent with the archeologically-
described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo tradition.
    In 1978, human remains representing, at minimum, 1 individual were 
removed from site AZ V:1:60(ASM) in Gila County, AZ. Excavations were 
conducted by the Arizona State Museum under the direction of J. 
Jefferson Reid for the Arizona Public Service Cholla Project. No human 
remains were reported at the time of the excavations. Following project 
completion, the archeological collections were brought to ASM. In 2014, 
ASM staff found the fragmentary human remains in the repository 
collections. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    AZ V:1:60(ASM) is described as a probable habitation site with a 
ceramic and lithic scatter. Ceramic typologies suggest a date range 
from about A.D. 1000 to 1200. These characteristics are consistent with 
the archeologically-described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western 
Pueblo tradition.
    In 1979, human remains representing, at minimum, 1 individual were 
removed from an unrecorded site (AZ W:1:-- Bean Pot Caf[eacute]) in 
Navajo County, AZ. The burial was inadvertently discovered in a 
bulldozed field and had been exposed by erosion from a drainage ditch. 
The human remains were recovered by ASM archeologist Alan Ferg at the 
request of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. At the conclusion of the 
excavation, the human remains were brought to ASM and were assigned an 
accession number. No known individuals were identified. The 9 
associated funerary objects are 1 ceramic bowl, 6 ceramic sherds, 1 
stone knife, and 1 stone core.
    Based on ceramic typology, the burial likely took place about A.D. 
1000-1200 and may be associated with the archeologically-described 
Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo tradition.
    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 that 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 with 
ritual

[[Page 87059]]

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 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 
Grasshopper Pueblo was occupied. Some Apache traditions describe 
interactions with Ancestral Pueblo 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 and associated funerary objects from 
this site. 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 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 and associated funerary objects from 
this site 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 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and the Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and 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 3 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 9 objects described 
in this notice 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.
     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 remains and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the 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 and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, P.O. Box 
210026, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, 
telephone (520) 626-2950, by January 3, 2017. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona and the 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 the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 15, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-28961 Filed 12-1-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P