[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 11 (Friday, January 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2147-2148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00861]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[N6870; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041860; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Arizona State University, School 
of Human Evolution and Social Change, Tempe, AZ

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 Center for Archeology and Society 
Repository (acting in place of the Arizona State University School of 
Human Evolution and Social Change) 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.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after February 17, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Allisen Dahlstedt, 
Arizona State University, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, 
P.O. Box 872402, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, email [email protected] 
and Christopher Caseldine, Arizona State University, School of Human 
Evolution and Social Change, P.O. Box 872402, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, 
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 
Arizona State University (ASU) Center for Archaeology and Society 
Repository (CASR), and additional information on the determinations in 
this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the 
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 six individuals have been 
identified. The 38 associated funerary objects are nine lots of 
ceramics, six lots of chipped stone, four lots of shell, nine lots of 
faunal bone, four lots of samples, one lot of botanicals, one lot of 
glass, three lots of other stone, and one lot of post/beam wood.
    In the spring and fall semesters of 1972, human remains 
representing, at minimum, six individuals were removed from the 
Sce:dag[ibreve] Mu:val Va'aki site in Maricopa County, AZ during field 
schools conducted by Wilburn A. Cockrell and Dr. Barbara Stark, 
respectively. Archaeological evidence suggests the site was occupied 
between A.D. 1150 and 1500, during the Hohokam Early to Late Classic 
Periods. After these field seasons, the collection was curated by the 
then Department of Anthropology, now School of Human Evolution and 
Social Change, at ASU's Center for Archaeology and Society Repository 
(CASR).

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available 
about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in 
this notice.

Determinations

    The Arizona State University (ASU) Center for Archaeology and 
Society Repository (CASR) has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of six individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 38 objects described in this notice are 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 Ak-Chin 
Indian Community; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe

[[Page 2148]]

of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; 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 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 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 February 17, 2026. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the ASU Center for 
Archaeology and Society Repository 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 ASU Center for Archaeology and 
Society Repository is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this 
notice and any other consulting parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: January 9, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-00861 Filed 1-15-26; 8:45 am]
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