[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 19945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-09306]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0027715; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: 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, 
in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this 
notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal 
descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these 
cultural items should submit a written request to the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control 
of the cultural items 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 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, Washington, DC, that meet the definition of unassociated 
funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    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 July 1971, three cultural items were removed from a site on or 
near Black Mesa in Navajo County, AZ. The individual removed during the 
excavation, an unnamed infant from the Begay family, was reburied in a 
cemetery in Fort Defiance, AZ, at the request of his maternal 
grandmother, Bessie Begay. The three unassociated funerary objects are 
cloth fragments from burial blankets.
    In July 1971, 110 cultural items were removed from a site on or 
near Black Mesa in Navajo County, AZ. The individual removed during the 
excavation, Etsitty Begay, was reburied in a cemetery in Fort Defiance, 
AZ, at the request of his son, Fred Smith. The 110 unassociated 
funerary objects include saddle parts, sediment, fabric and leather 
fragments, metal cans and metal fragments, one mano, and glass 
fragments.
    In July 1971, 33 cultural items were removed from a site on or near 
Black Mesa in Navajo County, AZ. The individual removed during the 
excavation, Many Mule's Daughter, was reburied in a cemetery in Fort 
Defiance, AZ, at the request of her daughter, Bessie Begay. The 33 
unassociated funerary objects include a wooden brush, two shoes, soil 
samples, mano fragments, fabric samples, and juniper berries.
    Documentary evidence shows that all the unassociated funerary 
objects were removed from burials of three individuals who were all 
enrolled members 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(3)(B), the 146 cultural items 
described above 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated 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 claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim 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 claimants have come forward, transfer of control 
of the unassociated 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.

    Dated: April 16, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-09306 Filed 5-6-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P