[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52056-52057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20949]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-10998; 2200-1100-665]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Arizona State
Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, in
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, has determined that
the cultural items meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects
and repatriation to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no
additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural
items may contact the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the Arizona
State Museum, University of Arizona, at the address below by September
27, 2012.
ADDRESSES: John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum,
University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone
(520) 626-2950.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items in the
possession of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson,
AZ, that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25
U.S.C. 3001.
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
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible
for the determinations in this notice.
History and Description of the Cultural Items
The unassociated funerary objects are six ceramic bowls, four
ceramic jars, two ceramic pitchers, and three ceramic sherds. The
funerary objects were removed from the Burruel site, AZ AA:16:58 (ASM),
which is located on private land adjacent to the San Xavier Indian
Reservation, Pima County, AZ. The Burruel site was inadvertently
discovered in 1979 by the property owner and excavation of human
remains and funerary objects was conducted by staff from the Arizona
State Museum. The human remains and funerary objects were brought to
the Arizona State Museum for documentation. The funerary objects were
returned to the property owner later that same year. In 1980, the
property owner transferred control of the human remains to the Arizona
State Museum. The human remains were reported in a Notice of Inventory
Completion in the Federal Register (73 FR 8356-8357, February 13, 2008)
and were subsequently repatriated. At an unknown date, the funerary
objects were acquired by Dr. Peter Toma. In May 2012, Dr. Toma donated
all of the funerary objects to the Arizona State Museum. The Burruel
site includes at least two trash mounds and a cremation area. Ceramics
associate the site with the Tanque Verde phase of the Classic period of
the Hohokam Archeological tradition, dating to approximately AD 1150 to
1450.
Father Eusebio Kino visited the O'odham village of Bac in 1692 and
established Mission San Xavier. He reported the presence of 800
inhabitants at the time of his first visit. O'odham people have
continued to occupy the land in the vicinity of the mission throughout
the historic period. They also identify themselves with the Hohokam
Archeological tradition. Cultural continuity between the prehistoric
occupants of the region and present day O'odham and Puebloan peoples is
supported by continuities in settlement pattern, architectural
technologies, basketry, textiles, ceramic technology, ritual practices,
and oral
[[Page 52057]]
traditions. The descendants of the O'odham peoples of the areas
described above are members 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; Salt River
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona;
and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona. The descendants of the Puebloan
peoples of the areas described above are members of the Hopi Tribe of
Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
Determinations Made by the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona
Officials of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona have
determined that
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 15 cultural items
described above 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native
American individual.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the
unassociated 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 the Zuni
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico (hereafter referred to as
``The Tribes'').
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should
contact John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum,
University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone
(520) 626-2950, before September 27, 2012. Repatriation of the
unassociated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed after that date
if no additional claimants come forward.
The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying The Tribes
that this notice has been published.
Dated: August 1, 2012.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-20949 Filed 8-27-12; 8:45 am]
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