[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 49187]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12711]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038055; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Canyons of the Ancients Visitors Center and 
Museum, Dolores, CO

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 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Land Management, Canyons of the Ancients Visitors Center and Museum 
has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects and has 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 object were removed from San Miguel County, 
Colorado.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after July 11, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Ray O'Neil, Monument Manager, Bureau of Land Management, 
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, 27501 Highway 184, Dolores, 
CO 81323, telephone (303) 882-5600, 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 
Canyons of the Ancients Visitors Center and Museum, Bureau of Land 
Management, Dolores, CO, and additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in its inventory or related records. The National Park 
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been 
identified. The one associated funerary object is a bone awl. The human 
remains were removed from the burial site in San Miguel County, CO, in 
1983 after the site (5SM790) had been vandalized sometime during the 
winter of 1982-1983. The burial appeared to be a cairn burial, 
comprised of about 20 sandstone cobbles and two groundstone slabs, 
within a rockshelter. A detailed assessment of the human remains was 
made by archaeologists in 1983 and in 1994, who determined the 
individual was of Native American descent. The human remains belong to 
an adult female. With the exception of the right arm and hand, one 
lumbar vertebra, and rib fragments, the upper portion of the body was 
completely missing. Based upon the burial context, as well as a 
radiocarbon date from charcoal included in the burial pit (A.D. 460 
 140), the site is reasonably believed to be from, in 
archaeological terms, the late Archaic or Formative period.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical 
location of the human remains and associated funerary object described 
in this notice.

Determinations

    The BLM Canyons of the Ancients Visitors Center and Museum has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     The one object described in this notice is reasonably 
believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual 
human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite 
or ceremony.
     There is a connection between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Hopi Tribe 
of Arizona; Ohkay 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 Sandia, 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; 
Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; 
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain 
Ute Tribe; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
authorized representative identified in this notice under ADDRESSES. 
Requests for repatriation 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with 
cultural affiliation.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after July 11, 2024. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the BLM Canyons of 
the Ancients Visitors Center and Museum 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 BLM Canyons 
of the Ancients Visitors Center and Museum 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 10.10.

    Dated: May 31, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-12711 Filed 6-10-24; 8:45 am]
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