[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 222 (Friday, November 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69313-69314]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25132]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034887; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Texas Archeological Research 
Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) has 
completed an inventory of human remains and an associated funerary 
object, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations and has determined the lineal descent of a 
present-day individual from the Native American individual whose human 
remains are described in this notice. 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 this associated funerary object should submit a 
written request to TARL. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and the associated funerary 
object to the lineal descendant 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 this associated 
funerary object should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to TARL at the address in this notice by 
December 19, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Annie Riegert Cummings, Texas 
Archeological Research Laboratory, 1 University Station R7500, Austin, 
TX

[[Page 69314]]

78712, telephone (512) 471-6006, 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 an 
associated funerary object under the control of the Texas Archeological 
Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX. The 
human remains and associated funerary object were removed from the 
Spirit Eye Cave Site, 41PS25, in Presidio County, TX.
    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 object. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    Archeologist Deborah Gray conducted a detailed assessment of the 
human remains prior to their acquisition by TARL professional staff in 
1998. In 2000, the human remains were further assessed and inventoried 
by TARL. Between 2000 and 2021, no potential consulting parties were 
identified, and no Indian Tribes requested to consult on the human 
remains. In 2021, Mr. Xoxi Nayapiltzin was identified as directly 
descending from the Native American individual whose human remains are 
described in this notice, and consultation was conducted with him.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1968, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were looted by Kenneth Novak and Adrian Benke from the Spirit Eye Cave 
site (41PS25), previously known as the Novak and Benke site, in 
Presidio County, TX. The largely complete mummified remains belong to a 
middle aged-to-old adult female. The one associated funerary object is 
a piece of yellow ochre.
    Due to the looted context, no additional information concerning the 
burial can be determined with great confidence. Following their removal 
in 1968, the human remains were advertised in a magazine, The Shotgun, 
and sold to a private buyer in California, Bob Howard. In 1998, during 
a search of Howard's residence by the California Department of Fish and 
Game, the mummified remains were recovered from a display case and 
taken to Wiefels and Son Mortuary, where they were analyzed by Deborah 
Gray. Mr. Howard told Ms. Gray where the human remains were disinterred 
and when he acquired them. As possession of human remains in California 
is illegal, the human remains were first transferred to the Riverside 
County Coroner's Office and then, upon the recommendation of the Office 
of the Texas State Archaeologist, to TARL. The human remains arrived at 
TARL on August 27, 1998 and were accessioned in 1999 under TARL 
Accession 1999.0155 and under human osteology accession number 3713.
    Based on the presence of prehistoric artifacts at the Spirit Eye 
Cave site (41PS25), the human remains are reasonably believed to date 
from the prehistoric phase. Initial ancestry estimation was established 
through biological analysis of the cranium by Deborah Gray. In an 
attempt aid in repatriation, Dr. Bryon Schroeder of Sul Ross University 
sampled the mummified human remains after approval for a sampling 
request. Dr. Meradeth Snow conducted the genetic analysis and 
determined that this and another individual from Spirit Eye Cave belong 
to the B2a4a1 lineage. Dr. Snow then compared the genetic results to 
data from living individuals and from human remains found in removed 
archeological contexts in the Americas.
    Mr. Xoxi Nayapiltzin approached researchers at Sul Ross State 
University and the Center for Big Bend Studies concerning prehistoric 
human remains in the Big Bend area on behalf of his family, the Nana 
Tana family. During this conversation Mr. Nayapiltzin provided his own 
haplogroup B2a4a1. The genetic distance between them is close as 
indicated by a single mutation in Mr. Nayapiltzin's own mitogenome 
sequence. The single mutation indicates that he is much more closely 
related to the individual belonging to the human remains at TARL than 
any other individuals used in Dr. Snow's analysis. Dr. Snow has 
provided TARL with a report supporting the lineal descent of Mr. 
Nayapiltzin from the Native American individual whose human remains are 
described in this notice.
    During consultation, Mr. Nayapiltzin reported that nine matrilineal 
generations of the Nana Tana family have resided in Alpine, TX (55 
miles from Spirit Eye Cave). Since starting his genealogical research 
53 years ago, Mr. Nayapiltzin has located the 1833 baptismal records of 
his great great-great grandmother in Meoqui, and through additional 
research, he has traced his lineage in Meoqui back three more 
generations. This geographical information is consistent with the 
burial location of the mummified human remains and further supports the 
already established genetic findings.

Determinations Made by the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The 
University of Texas at Austin

    Officials of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The 
University of Texas at Austin 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 one object described 
in this notice is 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 43 CFR 10.2(b)(1) and 10.14(b), Mr. Xoxi 
Nayapiltzin is the direct lineal descendant of the Native American 
individual whose human remains are described in this notice.

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 this associated 
funerary object should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Annie Riegert Cummings, Texas Archeological 
Research Laboratory, 1 University Station R7500, Austin, TX 78712, 
telephone (512) 471-6006, email [email protected], by 
December 19, 2022. After that date, if no additional requestors have 
come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and the 
associated funerary object to Mr. Xoxi Nayapiltzin may proceed.
    The Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The University of 
Texas at Austin is responsible for notifying Mr. Xoxi Nayapiltzin that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 9, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-25132 Filed 11-17-22; 8:45 am]
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