[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19944-19945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09303]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0027717; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
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 Bureau of Indian 
Affairs. 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 Bureau of Indian Affairs at the address 
in this notice by June 6, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Anna Pardo, Museum Program Manager/NAGPRA Coordinator, U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 12220 Sunrise 
Valley Drive, Room 6084, Reston, VA 20191, telephone (703) 390-6343, 
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 U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC. The human 
remains and associated funerary objects were removed from a site on or 
near Black Mesa in Navajo 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 U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs professional staff 
in consultation with representatives of the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New 
Mexico & Utah.

History and Description of the Remains

    From 1967 to 1983, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) issued 
Antiquities Act permits authorizing excavations in the Black Mesa 
region of Arizona for the purpose of mining coal deposits. The Black 
Mesa Archaeological Project (BMAP), conducted by staff and students 
from Prescott College and, later, Southern Illinois University at 
Carbondale (SIU), gathered archeological and anthropological data on 
Black Mesa. Initially, the collections were housed at Prescott College. 
In 1974, Prescott College declared bankruptcy and closed. In 1976, 
after being housed at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO, for one year, 
the BMAP collections and records were transferred to SIU. In October 
2018, the BMAP cultural items were transferred to the Museum of 
Northern Arizona in Flagstaff.
    In September 1969, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from a site on or near Black Mesa in Navajo 
County, AZ. The individual removed during the excavation, Many Mules, 
was reburied in a cemetery in Fort Defiance, AZ. In 2018, research on 
the collection of BMAP cultural items at SIU revealed fragmentary human 
remains belonging to Many Mules. The 122 associated funerary objects 
include leather and cloth fragments, beads, pendants, buttons, large 
mammal bones, and saddle parts.
    Documentary evidence shows that all the associated funerary objects 
were removed from the burial of Many Mules, who was an enrolled member 
of the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah. Consultation with the 
Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah provided further 
confirmation.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs

    Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(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. 3001(3)(A), the 122 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 Navajo 
Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah.

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 Anna Pardo, Museum Program Manager/NAGPRA 
Coordinator, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
12220 Sunrise Valley Drive, Room 6084, Reston, VA 20191, telephone 
(703) 390-6343, email [email protected], by June 6, 2019. After that 
date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah may proceed.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs is 
responsible for notifying the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah 
that this notice has been published.


[[Page 19945]]


    Dated: April 16, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-09303 Filed 5-6-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P