[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 84 (Wednesday, May 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20622-20623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08872]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-23160; 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 June 2, 2017.

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. The human remains were 
removed from an unknown location in Pueblo 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; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Crow Tribe of 
Montana; Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming 
(previously listed as the Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, 
Wyoming); Fort Sill Apache Tribe of 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; Ohkay Owingeh, New 
Mexico (previously listed as the Pueblo of San Juan); Pawnee Nation of 
Oklahoma; Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; 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; Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (previously 
listed as the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, 
Colorado, New Mexico & Utah); and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico. The following tribes were invited to consult but did not 
participate: the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of 
the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Oglala Sioux Tribe 
(previously listed as the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge 
Reservation, South Dakota); and Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud 
Indian Reservation, South Dakota. Hereafter all tribes listed above are 
referred to as ``The Consulted and Invited Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    In the 1950s, human remains representing, at minimum, three

[[Page 20623]]

individuals were removed from an unknown location in Pueblo County, CO, 
by a private citizen. The human remains were discovered in the estate 
of a private individual and turned over to the Pueblo Police Department 
who ruled out forensic interest. On July 25, 2016, the Pueblo Police 
Department notified the Office of the State Archaeologist and 
transferred the human remains to History Colorado. The human remains 
(OAHP 318) were determined to be of Native American ancestry and of 
indeterminate sex and age. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    At the time of the excavation and removal of these human remains, 
the land from which the human remains were removed was not the tribal 
land of any Indian tribe. In January and February 2017, History 
Colorado consulted with all Indian tribes who are recognized as 
aboriginal to Pueblo County, CO, where 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. The aboriginal land tribes requested in writing that the 
human remains be transferred 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) 
(2008, unpublished, on file with the Colorado Office of Archaeology and 
Historic Preservation). Consultation with the additional tribes listed 
under Consultation in this notice was conducted with tribes in the 
Great Plains Consultation Region of the Process 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 
transfer 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 Ute Tribe (previously 
listed as 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, the Process was developed.
    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 to 
suggest that the human remains originated from tribal land and the 
tribes with aboriginal land did not wish to accept transfer of control, 
the human remains listed in this notice are eligible for transfer of 
control under the Process.

Determinations Made by History Colorado

    Officials of History Colorado have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on osteological analysis.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of three 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)(i) 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 
Ute Tribe (previously listed as 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 2, 2017. 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 Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (previously listed as 
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: March 27, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-08872 Filed 5-2-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P