[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 41 (Friday, March 1, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7110-7112]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-03578]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0027262; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Arizona State Museum, University 
of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona (ASM) has 
completed an inventory of human remains and 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 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 ASM. 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 ASM at the address in this notice by 
April 1, 2019.

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 Arizona State 
Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from Pima 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 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 the ASM 
professional staff in consultation with

[[Page 7111]]

representatives of the Ak-Chin Indian Community (previously listed as 
the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian 
Reservation, Arizona); Cocopah Tribe of Arizona; Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Pascua Yaqui 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 the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New 
Mexico (hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1964, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from AZ Y:2:12(ASM), located in Yuma County, AZ, during 
the Lower Gila Survey Project. These human remains were not identified 
as such when they were collected. Collections from this site were 
received by ASM during or after 1964, but were not assigned an 
accession number. In 2010, museum staff discovered these human remains 
in the site survey collections. No known individuals were identified. 
The one associated funerary object is a shell fragment. This site 
includes a cremation area containing burned bones that had been eroding 
out of dunes. Information shared during consultations suggests that the 
placement of shells with a burial is consistent with Yuman mortuary 
practices in this region.
    In 1964, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals 
were removed from AZ Y:3:15(ASM), located on the east bank of Big Ethel 
Wash at its confluence with the Gila River in Yuma County, AZ, during 
the Lower Gila Survey Project. The 72 associated funerary objects are 
67 ceramic sherds, one cobble, one glass fragment, one metal artifact, 
one metate, and one stone. This site is described as a historic Yuman 
site consisting of a refuse area and two cremation pits.
    Archeological studies suggest that Yuman groups have resided along 
the Lower Colorado River and the Lower Gila River in Southern Arizona 
for at least 1,000 years. The presence of groups in these areas is 
documented historically by Spanish explorers who, in the 1600s and 
1700s, encountered people living in widely scattered rancherias around 
the Lower Colorado River and the Lower Gila River. Several lines of 
archeological evidence, such as similarities in material culture, 
settlement patterns, ceremonial sites and practices, residential 
architecture, and subsistence patterns suggest that the Yuman cultural 
traditions arose from an earlier, archeological tradition typically 
referred to as Patayan. Evidence of early Patayan occupation in the 
Lower Colorado River is poorly preserved largely due to the inundation 
of large areas by the Lake Mohave and Lake Havasu reservoirs, and the 
intensive agricultural practices of surrounding valleys. However, 
permanent settlements dating to around 1500 are documented in the 
Mohave Valley, as well as contemporaneous geoglyphs and trail networks 
linking ceremonial, occupational, and resource exploitation areas. In 
the Lower Gila River area, evidence of Patayan occupation prior to the 
introduction of ceramics is poorly documented due to the ephemeral 
nature of such early sites. However, following the introduction of 
ceramics around A.D. 700, settlements in the area became more 
permanent. Archeological evidence for these more permanent settlements 
include sites with pit houses and roasting or fire pits, and artifact 
assemblages containing similar ceramic sherds, chipped stone, and 
ground stone.
    Although there is evidence of some co-residence between Patayan and 
Hohokam groups, especially in the vicinity of Gila Bend, Patayan groups 
shared distinct cultural practices. These practices include settlement 
and subsistence patterns characterized by semi-permanent or permanent 
farming rancherias scattered across the floodplain of the Lower Gila 
River and the Lower Colorado River that are typically comprised of two 
to seven pit houses. Produce from these farms was augmented by seasonal 
gathering of resources from temporary camps along the river 
tributaries, as well as adjacent deserts and mountains. Large 
ceremonial sites served as gathering places for multiple families, and 
are characterized by shrines, petroglyphs, earth figures, intaglios, 
dance pathways, and rock alignments located on desert terraces adjacent 
to the floodplains. All Patayan groups and their descendants practiced 
cremation. Given the relative lack of archeological evidence on Patayan 
groups, archeologists have had difficulty establishing a relationship 
between prehispanic Patayan groups and specific historic Yuman tribes. 
However, archeologists have found the Patayan to be culturally 
affiliated with the Fort Mojave Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, 
Cocopah Tribe, and the Fort Yuma-Quechan Tribe.
    Modern Yuman groups in Southern Arizona, including the Fort Mojave 
Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Cocopah Tribe, and the Fort-Yuma 
Quechan Tribe, share oral traditions which trace their origins to the 
time of creation at Spirit Mountain (Avikwaame). According to this oral 
tradition, the Creator led the seven original Yuman groups to their 
various ancestral homelands, naming certain geographical markers along 
the way. Cultural informants cited place names from their oral 
traditions--including settlements, geographic features, and significant 
locations--that correlate to geographical areas of occupation defined 
by archeological material culture. These oral traditions suggest 
cultural continuity between modern Yuman groups and the earlier 
archeological Patayan culture.

Determinations Made by the Arizona State Museum

    Officials of 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 three individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 73 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 associated funerary objects and the Cocopah 
Tribe of Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River 
Indian Reservation, Arizona and California; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of 
Arizona, California & Nevada; and the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma 
Indian Reservation, California & Arizona (hereafter referred to as 
``The Affiliated 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 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 April 1, 2019. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to The Affiliated Tribes 
may proceed.
    The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying The Consulted

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Tribes and The Affiliated Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 1, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-03578 Filed 2-28-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P