[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11932-11934]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03812]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035382; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Minnesota Twin 
Cities, Minneapolis MN; Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, St. Paul/
Bemidji, MN; Science Museum of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN; University of 
Colorado Museum (Boulder), Boulder, CO; Milwaukee Public Museum, 
Milwaukee, WI; Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; Yale Peabody Museum, New 
Haven, CT; and Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Minnesota Twin Cities 
(UMN); Minnesota Indian Affairs Council; Science Museum of Minnesota; 
University of Colorado Museum (Boulder); Milwaukee Public Museum; 
Denver Art Museum; Yale Peabody Museum; and Cleveland Museum of Art, 
hereafter the Collaborating Museums, have completed an inventory of 
human remains and associated funerary objects and have determined that 
there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Grant and Catron Counties, NM.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after March 27, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Alejandra Pe[ntilde]a Guti[eacute]rrez, Weisman Art Museum, 
University of Minnesota, 333 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, 
telephone (612) 624-5934, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
Collaborating Museums. The National Park Service is not responsible for 
the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the inventory or related records held by the 
Collaborating Museums.

Description

    Cameron Creek and Warm Springs: In 1928, human remains 
representing, at minimum, 58 individuals were removed from Grant 
County, NM, by University of Minnesota professor Albert Jenks. Jenks 
secured funding from the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts to sponsor 
his participation, along with four students, in an excavation organized 
jointly by the School for American Research (today the School for 
Advanced Research), the Santa Fe Museum (today the Museum of Indian 
Arts and Culture), and the University of New Mexico under the direction 
of Wesley Bradford. Jenks and his students stayed in New Mexico from 
June through September of that year, and at the conclusion of the 
season the excavated human remains and funerary objects were divided 
among the participating institutions. In some cases, human remains and 
associated funerary objects were separated from each other. Initially, 
these human remains were sent to the University of Minnesota. Between 
1989 and 1997, they were transferred to the Minnesota Indian Affairs 
Council in accordance with Minnesota Statute 307.08. These human 
remains belong to 31 adults, two adolescents, 17 children, seven 
infants, and one individual of indeterminate age. No known individuals 
were identified. At the conclusion of the 1928 field season, some of 
the funerary objects associated with these individuals were brought to 
the Santa Fe Museum (Museum of Indian Arts and Culture), while most of 
them were sent to the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts. In 1959, the 
associated funerary objects at the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts 
were transferred to the University of Minnesota Department of 
Anthropology. Subsequently, most of these associated funerary objects 
were transferred to other institutions, including the Science Museum of 
Minnesota (in 1962), the Milwaukee Public Museum (in 1964), the 
University of Colorado Boulder Natural History Museum (in 1970), the 
Denver Art Museum (in 1972), and the Cleveland Art Museum, and in 1992, 
the remainder was transferred internally to the Weisman Art Museum at 
the University of Minnesota. In total, across the Collaborating 
Museums, there are 571 associated funerary objects, of which four are 
currently missing. The 567 locatable associated funerary objects are 
one carved jade pendant, 92 stone tools or other items, two carved 
shell or stone items, 43 shell items, one shell pendant, 16 bead lots, 
seven turquoise item lots, 45 bone tools or other items, 187 ceramic 
vessels, one non-vessel

[[Page 11933]]

ceramic item, 167 ceramic sherds or sherd lots, four organic items 
including charcoal, and one adobe lot. The Collaborating Museums 
continue to look for the missing four associated funerary objects, 
which are two pottery vessels and two turquoise pendants.
    Galaz Ruin: Between 1929 and 1931, human remains representing, at 
minimum, 115 individuals were removed from the Galaz Ruin site in Grant 
County, NM, by University of Minnesota professor Albert Jenks and a 
team of students. Although documentary evidence indicates that all the 
excavated funerary items were sent to the University of Minnesota, a 
much larger number of excavated human burials was documented than the 
115 interred individuals transferred to the University of Minnesota. 
Between 1989 and 1997, the human remains of these 115 individuals were 
transferred from the University of Minnesota to the Minnesota Indian 
Affairs Council in accordance with Minnesota Statute 307.08. Most of 
the associated funerary objects were transferred to other institutions, 
including the Science Museum of Minnesota (in 1959 and 1962) and the 
Yale Peabody Museum (in 1955). In 1992, the remaining associated 
funerary objects were transferred internally to the Weisman Art Museum 
at the University of Minnesota. The human remains belong to 77 adults, 
three adolescents, 29 children, five infants, and one individual of 
indeterminate age. No known individuals were identified. Across the 
Collaborating Museums, there are 3,236 associated funerary objects, 46 
of which are currently missing. The 3,190 locatable associated funerary 
objects are 1,009 ceramic vessels, 23 ceramic non-vessel items, 783 
ceramic sherds or sherd lots, three copper bell fragments, 51 bead 
lots, 733 stone tools or other items, 16 stone vessels, four lots of 
faunal material, 205 shell items, 51 turquoise items or lots, 260 bone 
tools or other items, 17 horn items, 13 mineral samples or objects, 20 
unidentified organic items, and two unidentified residue samples. The 
Collaborating Museums continue to look for the missing 46 associated 
funerary objects, which are 34 pottery vessels, four bead lots, four 
shell adornments, one stone pendant, one stone axe, one stone palette, 
and one projectile point. Among this number are pottery vessels known 
to have been traded to Bernard Brown, a private collector, in 1966, and 
later to George Terasaki.
    Hudson Ranch site: In 1930, human remains representing, at minimum, 
21 individuals were removed from the Hudson Ranch site in Catron 
County, NM, by University of Minnesota archeologists led by Lloyd 
Wilford. These human remains and associated funerary objects were sent 
to the University of Minnesota Department of Anthropology. Between 1989 
and 1997, these human remains were transferred from the University of 
Minnesota to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council in accordance with 
Minnesota Statute 307.08, and in 1992, the associated funerary objects 
were transferred internally to the Weisman Art Museum. The human 
remains belong to eight adults, four adolescents, three children, five 
infants, and one perinatal individual. No known individuals were 
identified. Of a total of 378 associated funerary objects, 14 are 
currently missing. The 364 locatable associated funerary objects are 
169 ceramic vessels, one ceramic non-vessel item, 50 ceramic sherds or 
sherd lots, 46 stone tools or other item lots, 14 shell items, one 
shell pendant with beads, one turquoise item, three bead lots, 69 bone 
tools or other items, two horn tools, four lots of faunal material, two 
unidentified organic items, one soil sample, and one ceramic vessel 
from either the Hudson Ranch site or the Galaz site with incomplete 
documentation. The Weisman Art Museum continues to look for the missing 
14 associated funerary objects, which are pottery vessels.
    Faywood Hot Springs: In 1931, University of Minnesota archeologists 
excavated at the Faywood Hot Springs site in Grant County, NM (referred 
to in field records as ``Mimbres Hot Springs''). The associated 
funerary objects were removed and sent to the University of Minnesota 
Anthropology Department, and in 1992, they were transferred internally 
to the Weisman Art Museum. Of a total of 25 associated funerary 
objects, three are currently missing. The 22 locatable associated 
funerary are 11 ceramic vessels, two ceramic sherds or sherd lots, one 
stone vessel, one stone tool or other item, two shell items, one bead 
lot, one turquoise item, and three bone tools. The Weisman Art Museum 
continues to look for the missing three associated funerary objects, 
which are one bone tool and two stone tools.
    Unknown sites: Between 1928 and 1931, human remains representing, 
at minimum, four individuals were removed by University of Minnesota 
archeologists from undocumented sites (possibly Cameron Creek, Warm 
Springs, Galaz, Hudson Ranch, Faywood Hot Springs, Pruitt Ranch, or 
other) in Grant and/or Catron County, NM. The human remains were sent 
to the Anthropology department at the University of Minnesota. Between 
1989 and 1997, they were transferred from the University of Minnesota 
to the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council in accordance with Minnesota 
Statute 307.08. These human remains belong to one child, one infant, 
and two individuals of indeterminate age. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, 
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity 
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures 
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: anthropological, archeological, geographical, historical, 
linguistic, oral traditional, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Collaborating Museums have determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 198 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 4,210 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; 
Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Okhay 
Owingeh, New Mexico; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San 
Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New 
Mexico; Santo Domingo Pueblo; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo; and the Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.

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Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after March 27, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the Collaborating 
Museums must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to 
repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not 
competing requests. The Collaborating Museums are responsible for 
sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in this 
notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: February 15, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-03812 Filed 2-23-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P