[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77012-77013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31614]
[[Page 77012]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[2253-665]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ajo, AZ and
Arizona State Museum, Tucson, AZ
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument has completed an inventory
of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with
the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is a
cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary
objects and present-day Indian tribes. Representatives of any Indian
tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human
remains and associated funerary objects may contact Organ Pipe Cactus
National Monument. Repatriation of the human remains and associated
funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no
additional claimants come forward.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a
cultural affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument at the
address below by January 9, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Lee Baiza, Superintendent, Organ Pipe Cactus National
Monument, 10 Organ Pipe Drive, Ajo, AZ 85321, telephone (520) 387-6849
ext. 7500.
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
associated funerary objects in the control of Organ Pipe Cactus
National Monument, Ajo, AZ and in the physical custody of the Arizona
State Museum, Tucson, AZ. The human remains and associated funerary
objects were removed from site AZ Y:16:002 (ASM) in Pima County, AZ.
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
Superintendent, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Consultation
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Organ Pipe
Cactus National Monument and Arizona State Museum professional staff in
consultation with representatives of the Ak Chin Indian Community of
the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of
Arizona; Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California
and Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona. The Cocopah Tribe of
Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian
Reservation, Arizona and California; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of
Arizona, California, and Nevada; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico were also contacted for consultation
purposes.
History and Description of the Remains
Between 1951 and 1954, human remains representing, at minimum, one
individual were removed from site AZ Y:16:002 (ASM) in Pima County, AZ.
The remains were removed during archeological fieldwork under the
direction of Paul H. Ezell in a cooperative project between Arizona
State Museum and the National Park Service. Project collections were
stored at the NPS Southwestern National Monuments Headquarters, also
known as the Southwest Archaeological Center, in Globe, AZ, for
analysis and report preparation. The professional report was never
completed. It is unclear at what point the cremated remains came to be
in collections storage at the Arizona State Museum. No known
individuals were identified. The 38 associated funerary objects are 2
faunal bone fragments and 36 fragments of charcoal.
Based upon the archeological context, including the presence of
Tanque Verde Red-on-Brown ceramics, the remains have been determined to
be Native American dating to A.D. 1150-1450, commonly known to the
archeological community as the Classic Hohokam period.
A relationship of shared group identity can reasonably be traced
between members of the Hohokam culture and the four southern O'odham
tribes of Arizona. The O'odham people comprise four Federally
recognized Indian tribes (the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa
(Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of
the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa
Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono
O'odham Nation of Arizona) and one Indian Group that is not Federally
recognized, the Hia C-ed O'odham. A Hia C-ed O'odham association with
lands lying directly to the west of the Ajo Mountains, including Organ
Pipe Cactus National Monument, is documented throughout the historic
period and into the 20th century.
O'odham oral histories describe the end time of the Hohokam, when
O'odham armies gathered and marched on the Great House communities
(e.g., Casa Grande, Pueblo Grande) and cast out the Hohokam societies
there. The armies then occupied the conquered lands, intermarrying with
the remnants of the Hohokam and ultimately becoming the O'odham people.
Other evidence of the O'odham-Hohokam connection includes similar
settlement patterns, irrigation systems, residence styles, and a
possible relationship between modern O'odham kickball games and formal
Hohokam ball courts.
A relationship of shared group identity can also reasonably be
traced between members of the Hohokam culture and the Hopi Tribe of
Arizona. Hopi history is based, in large part, on clan migration
narratives. The Hopi consider all of Arizona to be within traditional
Hopi lands, i.e., areas in and through which Hopi clans are believed to
have migrated in the past. Hopi oral history and the anthropological
record show that some clans originated in the Salt-Gila region and were
descended from the Hohokam. After the fall of the Great House
communities, Hohokam refugees were absorbed into the Hopi culture.
A relationship of shared group identity can also reasonably be
traced between members of the Hohokam culture and the Zuni Tribe of the
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. Zuni oral history tells of ancestral
migrations and settling throughout this region in their search for the
Middle Place of the World (present day Pueblo of Zuni). Elders have
identified features in the area, including shrines and petroglyphs, as
Zuni. Zuni ancestors left many markers of their passing including
trails, habitation sites, campsites, burials, sacred shrines, and rock
art.
Determinations Made by Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Officials of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument 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 38 objects described
above are reasonably believed to have been placed
[[Page 77013]]
with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as
part of the death rite or ceremony.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Ak Chin
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona;
Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation,
Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation
of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Lee Baiza, Superintendent, Organ Pipe Cactus
National Monument, 10 Organ Pipe Drive, Ajo, AZ 85321, telephone (520)
387-6849 ext. 7500 before January 9, 2012. Repatriation of the human
remains and associated funerary objects to the Ak Chin Indian Community
of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River
Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi
Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt
River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed after that date
if no additional claimants come forward.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is responsible for notifying
the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian
Reservation, Arizona; Cocopah Tribe of Arizona; Colorado River Indian
Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and
California; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California, and
Nevada; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian
Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Quechan Tribe of the Fort
Yuma Indian Reservation, California and Arizona; Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona;
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni
Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has been published.
Dated: December 5, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-31614 Filed 12-8-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-50-P