[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 164 (Thursday, August 23, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42676-42677]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-18203]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0026149; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Brooklyn Museum has completed an inventory of associated 
funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is a 
cultural affiliation between the 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 associated funerary objects should submit 
a written request to the Brooklyn Museum. If no additional requestors 
come forward, transfer of control of the 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 associated funerary objects should 
submit a written request with information in support of the request to 
the Brooklyn Museum at the address in this notice by September 24, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Nancy Rosoff, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator, Arts of the 
Americas, Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238, 
telephone (718) 501-6283, 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 associated funerary 
objects under the control of the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. The 
associated funerary objects were removed from Canyon del Muerto, Apache 
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 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American associated funerary objects. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the associated funerary objects was made 
by the Brooklyn Museum professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River 
Indian Reservation, Arizona and California; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; 
Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; 
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; and Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico (hereafter referred to as 
``The Consulted Tribes'').

History and Description of the Associated Funerary Objects

    The associated funerary objects and the mummified remains of a man 
were removed from an unidentified site within Canyon del Muerto in 
Apache County, AZ, by Charles L. Day at an unknown date prior to April 
1903. In April 1903, Brooklyn Museum curator Stewart Culin purchased 
the associated funerary objects and human remains from Day. Culin's 
catalog cards indicate that the associated funerary objects were found 
with the human remains. In 1907, the human remains were transferred to 
the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL. The human remains can 
be found in the Field Museum of Natural History's culturally 
unidentifiable inventory. The two associated funerary objects are one 
fragmented arrow shaft and one bow with cord.
    The arrow fragments and bow are Ancestral Puebloan and date to the 
Pueblo I-III Periods (700-1300 C.E.). This determination was made by 
Susan Kennedy Zeller, former Associate Curator of Native American Art, 
on August 8, 1996, on the basis of parallel materials found within the 
archeological literature. Canyon del Muerto is located within the 
Western Ancestral Puebloan cultural area. Archeologically, this 
cultural area is characterized by a temporal shift from subterranean 
pit houses to above-ground masonry rooms surrounding plazas, 
rectangular kivas, and a wide variety of regionally distinct painted 
ceramics. Other archeological sites within Canyon del Muerto indicate 
sustained Ancestral Puebloan occupation from the late Basketmaker II 
through the Pueblo III Periods. After the start of the Pueblo III 
Period, around 1300 C.E., the archeological evidence suggests that much 
of the population living within Canyon del Muerto moved to other 
settlements.
    The associated funerary objects were examined during consultations 
by representatives from The Tribes during 1996 and 1997, as part of the 
Brooklyn Museum's 1996 NAGPRA Grant.
    The Colorado River Tribes of the Colorado River Reservation, 
Arizona and California are composed of four distinct tribes: the 
Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi, and Navajo. Evidence for a cultural 
affiliation between the Ancestral Puebloan occupants of Canyon del 
Muerto and the Colorado River Tribes of the Colorado River Reservation, 
Arizona and California includes similarities in material culture and 
architectural design, as well as archeological data and oral tradition. 
Canyon del Muerto lies within traditional Hopi territory, and Hopi oral 
tradition speaks of clan migrations through the Canyon de Chelly 
region, of which Canyon del Muerto is a part.
    Evidence for cultural affiliation between the Ancestral Puebloan 
occupants of Canyon del Muerto and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona includes 
similarities in material culture and architectural design, as well as 
archeological data, geographic proximity, and oral tradition. The Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona considers all of Arizona to either lie within 
traditional Hopi territory or to be a territory through which Hopi 
clans migrated.
    Evidence for cultural affiliation between the Ancestral Puebloan 
occupants of Canyon del Muerto and the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New 
Mexico & Utah, includes expert opinion and

[[Page 42677]]

geographic proximity. Canyon del Muerto lies within the aboriginal 
lands of the Navajo Nation, as established by the Indian Claims 
Commission. Navajo consultants in 1997 did not specifically comment on 
the cultural affiliation of the associated funerary objects. However, 
the Navajo Nation maintains that it is affiliated with material and 
human remains from Canyon de Chelly.
    Evidence for cultural affiliation between the Ancestral Puebloan 
occupants of Canyon del Muerto and the Pueblo of Acoma includes 
similarities in material culture and architectural design, expert 
opinion, and oral tradition. The Pueblo of Acoma asserts a cultural 
affiliation with archeological sites within the Four Corners area. 
During a 1997 consultation visit to the Brooklyn Museum, Pueblo of 
Acoma representatives stated that they consider Puebloan archeological 
material from Canyon del Muerto to be ancestral to them.
    Evidence for cultural affiliation between the Ancestral Puebloan 
occupants of Canyon del Muerto and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation includes similarities in material culture and architectural 
design, expert opinion, geographic proximity, and oral tradition. Zuni 
Tribe representatives explained during a 1996 consultation that they do 
not distinguish between their Ancestral Puebloan ancestors and 
themselves, and referred to both the earlier and present-day groups as 
Zuni.

Determinations Made by the Brooklyn Museum

    Officials of the Brooklyn Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the two 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 associated funerary objects and the Colorado River Indian 
Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and 
California; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & 
Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').

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 associated funerary objects should 
submit a written request with information in support of the request to 
Nancy Rosoff, Andrew W. Mellon Senior Curator, Arts of the Americas, 
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238, telephone 
(718) 501-6283, email [email protected], by September 24, 
2018. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the associated funerary objects to The Tribes 
may proceed.
    The Brooklyn Museum is responsible for notifying The Consulted 
Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 30, 2018.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2018-18203 Filed 8-22-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P