[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 180 (Monday, September 17, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57113-57114]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22751]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11058; 2200-1100-665]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee
National Grasslands, Fort Collins, CO
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service,
Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and the Pawnee National Grassland
(ARP) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated
funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes,
and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the
remains and any present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any Indian
tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human
remains may contact the ARP. Disposition of the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes described below may
occur if no additional requestors come forward.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the ARP at
the address below by October 17, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Sue Struthers, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and
Pawnee National Grasslands, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building E, Fort
Collins, CO 80526, telephone (970) 295-6622.
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 located at the University of Colorado
Museum, Boulder, Colorado, and under the control of the USDA, Forest
Service, ARP. The human remains and associated funerary objects
described below were removed from Larimer County, CO.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and
43 CFR 10.11(d). The determinations in this notice are the sole
responsibility of the Federal agency that has control of the Native
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible
for the determinations in this notice.
Consultation
On May 16th and 17th, 2007, an initial assessment of the human
remains was made by the ARP professional staff and the University of
Colorado Natural History Museum, Boulder, CO, professional staff in
consultation with representatives of the following tribes: Arapaho
Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne and Arapaho
Tribes, Oklahoma (foremerly the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma);
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South
Dakota; Crow Tribe of Montana; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma;
Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma;
Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation,
Montana; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort
Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of Uintah & Ouray
Reservation, Utah; and the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah. A second consultation meeting
was held May 2nd and 3rd, 2012, with representatives of the Arapaho
Tribe of theWind River Reservation, Wyoming; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of
the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; and the Southern Ute
Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado.
History and Description of the Remains
In August of 1963, human remains representing, at minimum, one
individual were removed from the Gordon Creek burial site (5LR99), in
Larimer County, CO. The remains were discovered during the course of a
watershed improvement project in the Gordon Creek drainage eroding out
of a stream bank on a tributary of Gordon Creek within the Arapaho and
Roosevelt National Forest. Excavation was conducted by the Department
of Anthropology, University of Colorado, with the approval of the USDA,
Forest Service. After the excavation concluded, the human remains and
the associated funerary objects were sent to the University of Colorado
Natural History Museum. No known individuals were identified. The 24
associated funerary objects are 1 stone tool core; 1 stone biface
perform tool; 1 stone perform tool; 2 stone biface tool fragments; 7
stone tool flakes; 1 sample of ochre (hematite); 2 animal bones (large
mammal hyoid bones with cut marks on the ends); 4 elk incisor teeth; 1
burnt animal bone; 1 soil sample from burial pit; 1 soil sample labeled
``attempted C14 sample''; 1 carbonized sap specimen; and 1 lot of
residue from C14 testing.
Although the human remains were fragmentary, some of the skeleton
and associated artifacts were removed from a slump below the burial pit
and some of the skeleton was in situ, all of the skeletal remains were
stained with a thick coat of red ocher. The remains were interred in a
flexed position, in an intentionally formed burial pit. Subsequent
analysis determined that the remains are those of a 25-30 year old
American Indian (paleoindian) female and that the burial dates to
approximately 9,000 year B.P. The Gordon Creek burial site is located
on lands adjudicated by the Indian Claims Commission as the aboriginal
lands of the Northern Cheyenne, Cheyenne and Arapaho, and Northern
Arapaho tribes.
Determinations Made by the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and
Pawnee National Grasslands
Officials of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee
Grasslands have determined that:
Based on archaeological evidence the human remains are
Native American.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American
human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
According to final judgments of the Indian Claims
Commission, the land from which the Native American human remains and
associated funerary objects were removed is the aboriginal land of the
Arapaho Tribe of theWind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne and
Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (formerly the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of
Oklahoma); and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne
Indian Reservation, Montana.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described
in this notice represent the physical remains of one
[[Page 57114]]
(1) individual of Native American ancestry.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 24 objects 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.
Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the
human remains and associated funerary objects is to the Northern
Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with the human remains or any other Indian tribe
that believes it satisfies the criteria in 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1) should
contact Sue Struthers, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee
National Grasslands, 2150 Centre Avenue, Building E, Fort Collins, CO
80526, telephone (970) 295-6622, before October 17, 2012. Disposition
of the human remains to Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana, may proceed after that date if no
additional requestors come forward.
The Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee National
Grasslands is responsible for notifying the Arapaho Tribe of the Wind
River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma
(foremerly the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma); Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Crow Tribe
of Montana; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache
Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Northern Cheyenne
Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Pawnee
Nation of Oklahoma; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute
Reservation, Colorado; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold
Reservation, North Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of Uintah & Ouray
Reservation, Utah; and the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain
Reservation, Dolorado, New Mexico & Utah that this notice has been
published.
Dated: August 9, 2012.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-22751 Filed 9-14-12; 8:45 am]
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