[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 125 (Friday, June 30, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29924-29926]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13736]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-23403; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Defense, 
Department of the Air Force, Air Education and Training Command, Barry 
M. Goldwater Range East, 56th Range Management Office, Luke Air Force 
Base, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force, 
Air Education and Training Command, Barry M. Goldwater Range East, 56th 
Range Management Office, Luke Air Force Base, has completed an 
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined 
that there is a cultural

[[Page 29925]]

affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and present-day Indian tribes. Lineal descendants or representatives of 
any Indian tribe 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 56th Range Management 
Office, Luke Air Force Base. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to lineal descendants or Indian tribes stated in this notice 
may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe 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 56th 
Range Management Office, Luke Air Force Base by July 31, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Charles Buchanan, Director, 56th Range Management 
Office, 7101 Jerstad Lane, Building 500, Luke Air Force Base, AZ 85309, 
phone (623) 856-5820, 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 and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the 56th Range 
Management Office, Luke Air Force Base, and in physical custody of the 
Arizona State Museum, Tucson, AZ. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from site AZ Y:8:001 (ASM), Maricopa 
County, 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 
Department of the Air Force, 56th Range Management Office, Luke Air 
Force Base, which has control of the Native American human remains and 
associated funerary objects. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Arizona 
State Museum and the 56th Range Management Office, Luke Air Force Base, 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Ak Chin 
Indian Community (previously listed as the Ak Chin Indian Community of 
the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona); Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Quechan Tribe 
of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & Arizona; Salt River 
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; 
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp 
Verde Indian Reservation, Arizona. The following Indian tribes were 
invited to consult but did not participate in consultations: The 
Cocopah Tribe of Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado 
River Indian Reservation, Arizona and California; Fort McDowell Yavapai 
Nation, Arizona; Fort Mohave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California & 
Nevada; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San 
Carlos Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe (previously 
listed as the Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai Reservation, 
Arizona); and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. All 
tribes listed are referred to as the ``Invited and Consulted Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    On September 21, 1978, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from site AZ Y:8:001 (ASM) on the Barry M. 
Goldwater Range East, Maricopa County, AZ (formerly the Luke AFB 
Bombing and Gunnery Range). The human remains, Cremation 1, were 
removed from Component 2, during an authorized archeological excavation 
under the direction of Dr. Bruce Huckell, Arizona State Museum, AZ. The 
collection was transferred to the Arizona State Museum on September 28, 
1978, where it is currently curated. A professional report on the 
collection was published in 1979: The Coronet REAL Project: 
Archaeological Investigations on the Luke Range, Southwestern Arizona, 
by Bruce B. Huckell. Arizona State Museum Archaeological Series No. 
129.
    The estimated age of the individual at death is older than 40 years 
based on dentition and ectocranial suture of the sagittal suture. The 
sex of the cremation was determined to be male based on evidence from 
the skull and in nominate. The stature of the individual is 
indeterminate due to the fragmentary nature of the long bones. No known 
individuals were identified. The 21 associated funerary objects include 
1 reconstructed Tanque Verde Red-on-Brown ceramic pitcher with missing 
handle (1979-145-1); 1 lot of sherds of a burned Colorado Red bowl 
(1979-145-10); 1 bone awl (1979-145-6); 3 rim sherds of a burned Tonto 
Polychrome bowl (1979-145-7:x); 14 body sherds of the same burned Tonto 
Polychrome bowl (1979-145-8:x), and 1 piece of worked animal bone 
(None-1979-145-C1-01).
    Based on morphological characteristics, geographic location, 
archeological context, and the presence of culturally and temporally 
identifiable ceramics, and consistency in cremation pit size and 
orientation, the human remains have been determined to be Native 
American dating to the Classic period (A.D. 1150-1450) Tucson Basin 
Hohokam. The cremation pit and orientation of the remains (the long-
axis of the body was aligned east-west, with the head at the east) are 
consistent with Classic Period Hohokam sites in the Gila Bend area and 
Tucson Basin. The cremation pit is identical in size and shape with 
primary cremations from site AZ AA:12:46 (ASM), the Rabid Ruin, a 
Tucson Basin Hohokam site.
    A relationship of shared group identity can reasonably be traced 
between members of the Hohokam culture and the four southern O'odham 
tribes of Arizona. The O'odham comprise four Federally recognized 
Indian tribes (Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) 
Indian Reservation, Arizona); Gila River Indian Community of the Gila 
River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham 
Nation of Arizona. Historically the Pimeria Alta is the traditional 
homeland of the O'odham; including the river people (Akimel), the 
desert people (Tohono) and the sand people (Hia C-ed O'odham). O'odham 
oral history teaches that the O'odham were created in this land and 
have always lived here. Places mentioned in the Creation Story and 
other stories and songs have been identified on the landscape 
throughout the Sonoran Desert.
    A relationship of shared group identity may also reasonably be 
traced between members of the Hohokam culture of the Phoenix Basin and 
clans of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona. Hopi history is based, in large 
part, on clan migration narratives. The Hopi consider all of Arizona to 
be within traditional Hopi lands, i.e., areas in and through which Hopi 
clans are believed to have migrated in the past. Hopi oral history and 
the anthropological record show that some clans originated in the Salt-
Gila region and were descended from the Hohokam. After the fall of the 
Great House communities, Hohokam refugees were absorbed into the Hopi 
culture.
    A relationship of shared group identity can also reasonably be 
traced between members of the Hohokam

[[Page 29926]]

culture and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. Zuni 
oral history tells of ancestral migrations and settling throughout this 
region in their search for the Middle Place of the World (present day 
Pueblo of Zuni). Zuni ancestors left many markers of their passing 
including trails, habitation sites, campsites, and burials. Elders have 
identified features in the area, including shrines and petroglyphs, as 
Zuni.
    A relationship of shared group identity may also be reasonably be 
traced between members of the Patayan culture and the Quechan tribe of 
the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & Arizona. The Colorado 
Red bowl is associated with the archeological culture identified as 
Patayan, which the Quechan believe were their ancestors.

Determinations of the Luke Air Force Base

    Officials of the 56th Range Management Office, Luke Air Force Base 
have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 301(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. 301(3)(A), the 21 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. 301(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Ak Chin 
Indian Community (previously listed as the Ak Chin Indian Community of 
the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California 
& Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe 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 Mr. 
Charles Buchanan, Director, 56th Range Management Office, Barry M. 
Goldwater Range East, 7101 Jerstad Lane, Luke Air Force Base, AZ 85309, 
phone (623) 856-8520, email [email protected], by July 31, 
2017. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) 
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila 
River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Quechan Tribe 
of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & Arizona; Salt River 
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; 
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico, may proceed.
    The 56th Range Management Office, Luke Air Force Base, is 
responsible for notifying the Invited and Consulted Tribes that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: May 15, 2017.
Melanie, O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-13736 Filed 6-29-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P