[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 9 (Friday, January 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2244-2245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00523]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037226; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Navajo National Monument, Shonto, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), U.S. Department of the Interior, National 
Park Service, Navajo National Monument (NAVA) has completed an 
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has 
determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human 
remains

[[Page 2245]]

and associated funerary objects and any Indian Tribe. The human remains 
and associated funerary objects were removed from Coconino or Navajo 
Counties, AZ.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice may occur on or after February 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Lyn Carranza, Superintendent, Navajo National Monument, End 
of AZ Hwy 564 North, P.O. Box 7717, Shonto, AZ 86054-7717, telephone 
(928) 624-5500 Ext. 244, 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 
superintendent, NAVA. Additional information on the determinations in 
this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the 
inventory or related records held by NAVA.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, nine individuals were 
removed from Coconino or Navajo County, AZ. The human remains were 
found in, or accessioned into, NAVA collections between 1954 and 1999 
with no clear locational information. NAVA reasonably believes that 
they were either removed from within the monument or from the vicinity 
of the monument. The 37 associated funerary objects are one pendant, 30 
beads, one worked stone, and five sherds.

Tribal Land

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
were removed from known geographic locations. At the time of removal, 
these locations were the tribal land of one or more Indian Tribes.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, NAVA has determined 
that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of nine individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 37 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. The 
National Park Service intends to convey the associated funerary objects 
to the Tribes pursuant to 54 U.S.C. 102503(g) through (i) and 54 U.S.C. 
102504.
     No relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably 
traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects and 
any Indian Tribe.
     The human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice were removed from the tribal land of the 
Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico, & Utah.

Requests for Disposition

    Written requests for disposition of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for disposition 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes 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, or who shows that the requestor is a tribal land Indian 
Tribe.
    Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after February 
12, 2024. If competing requests for disposition are received, NAVA must 
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to disposition. Requests 
for joint disposition of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects are considered a single request and not competing requests. 
NAVA is 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 and 
10.11.

    Dated: January 5, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-00523 Filed 1-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P