[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 232 (Friday, December 2, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87057-87059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28961]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22425; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and Arizona State Museum,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, and
[[Page 87058]]
the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, have completed an
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations, and have determined that there is a cultural affiliation
between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-
day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants
or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization
not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control
of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a
written request to the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona. If
no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human
remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants,
Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice
may proceed.
DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in
support of the request to the Arizona State Museum, University of
Arizona at the address in this notice by January 3, 2017.
ADDRESSES: John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, P.O. Box 210026,
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, 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. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and
associated funerary objects under the control of the U.S. Department of
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the
physical custody of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona,
Tucson, AZ (ASM). The human remains were removed from locations within
the boundaries of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, Apache, Gila and
Navajo Counties, 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
museum, institution, or 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
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the ASM
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Hopi
Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Indian
Reservation, Arizona; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico.
History and Description of the Remains
On an unknown date prior to 1979, human remains representing, at
minimum, 1 individual were removed from the Salt River Draw region, (AZ
P:14:--Salt River Draw) in Navajo County, AZ. The human remains were
found with collections obtained by the University of Arizona
Grasshopper Field School, but are marked with an incomplete site
number. It is likely that the human remains were removed from the site
of Grasshopper Pueblo, AZ P:14:1(ASM) or one of the nearby sites
investigated by the field school during the years 1963-1979. No known
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
The Grasshopper Pueblo site is a large village site containing
approximately 500 rooms in more than a dozen stone room blocks arranged
around three main plazas. The site has been dated from A.D. 1275-1400,
based on tree ring dates, architectural forms, building technology, and
ceramic styles. These characteristics, the mortuary pattern and other
items of material culture are consistent with the archeologically-
described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo tradition.
In 1978, human remains representing, at minimum, 1 individual were
removed from site AZ V:1:60(ASM) in Gila County, AZ. Excavations were
conducted by the Arizona State Museum under the direction of J.
Jefferson Reid for the Arizona Public Service Cholla Project. No human
remains were reported at the time of the excavations. Following project
completion, the archeological collections were brought to ASM. In 2014,
ASM staff found the fragmentary human remains in the repository
collections. No known individuals were identified. No associated
funerary objects are present.
AZ V:1:60(ASM) is described as a probable habitation site with a
ceramic and lithic scatter. Ceramic typologies suggest a date range
from about A.D. 1000 to 1200. These characteristics are consistent with
the archeologically-described Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western
Pueblo tradition.
In 1979, human remains representing, at minimum, 1 individual were
removed from an unrecorded site (AZ W:1:-- Bean Pot Caf[eacute]) in
Navajo County, AZ. The burial was inadvertently discovered in a
bulldozed field and had been exposed by erosion from a drainage ditch.
The human remains were recovered by ASM archeologist Alan Ferg at the
request of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. At the conclusion of the
excavation, the human remains were brought to ASM and were assigned an
accession number. No known individuals were identified. The 9
associated funerary objects are 1 ceramic bowl, 6 ceramic sherds, 1
stone knife, and 1 stone core.
Based on ceramic typology, the burial likely took place about A.D.
1000-1200 and may be associated with the archeologically-described
Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo tradition.
A detailed discussion of the basis for cultural affiliation of
archeological sites in the region where the above sites are located may
be found in ``Cultural Affiliation Assessment of White Mountain Apache
Tribal Lands (Fort Apache Indian Reservation),'' by John R. Welch and
T.J. Ferguson (2005). To summarize, archeologists have used the terms
Upland Mogollon or prehistoric Western Pueblo to define the
archeological complexes represented by the sites listed above. Material
culture characteristics of these traditions include a temporal
progression from earlier pit houses to later masonry pueblos, villages
organized in room blocks of contiguous dwellings associated with
plazas, rectangular kivas, polished and paint-decorated ceramics,
unpainted corrugated ceramics, inhumation burials, cradleboard cranial
deformation, grooved stone axes, and bone artifacts. The combination of
the material culture attributes and a subsistence pattern that included
hunting and gathering augmented by maize agriculture helps to identify
an earlier group. Archeologists have also remarked that there are
strong similarities between this earlier group and present-day tribes
included in the Western Pueblo ethnographic group, especially the Hopi
Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico. The similarities in ceramic traditions, burial practices,
architectural forms, and settlement patterns have led archeologists to
believe that the prehistoric inhabitants of the Mogollon Rim region
migrated north and west to the Hopi mesas, and north and east to the
Zuni River Valley. Certain objects found in Upland Mogollon
archeological sites have been found to have strong resemblances with
ritual
[[Page 87059]]
paraphernalia that are used in continuing religious practices by the
Hopi and Zuni. Some petroglyphs on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation
have also persuaded archeologists of continuities between the earlier
identified group and current-day Western Pueblo people. Biological
information from the site of Grasshopper Pueblo supports the view that
the prehistoric occupants of the Upland Mogollon region had migrated
from various locations to the north and west of the region.
Hopi and Zuni oral traditions parallel the archeological evidence
for migration. Migration figures prominently in Hopi oral tradition,
which refers to the ancient sites, pottery, stone tools, petroglyphs,
and other artifacts left behind by the ancestors as ``Hopi
Footprints.'' This migration history is complex and detailed, and
includes traditions relating specific clans to the Mogollon region.
Hopi cultural advisors have also identified medicinal and culinary
plants at archeological sites in the region. Their knowledge about
these plants was passed down to them from the ancestors who inhabited
these ancient sites. Migration is also an important attribute of Zuni
oral tradition and includes accounts of Zuni ancestors passing through
the Upland Mogollon region. The ancient villages mark the routes of
these migrations. Zuni cultural advisors remark that the ancient sites
were not abandoned. People returned to these places from time to time,
either to reoccupy them or for the purpose of religious pilgrimages--a
practice that has continued to the present day. Archeologists have
found ceramic evidence at shrines in the Upland Mogollon region that
confirms these reports. Zuni cultural advisors have names for plants
endemic to the Mogollon region that do not grow on the Zuni
Reservation. They also have knowledge about traditional medicinal and
ceremonial uses for these resources, which has been passed down to them
from their ancestors. Furthermore, Hopi and Zuni cultural advisors have
recognized that their ancestors may have been co-resident at some of
the sites in this region during their ancestral migrations.
There are differing points of view regarding the possible presence
of Apache people in the Upland Mogollon region during the time that
Grasshopper Pueblo was occupied. Some Apache traditions describe
interactions with Ancestral Pueblo people during this time, but
according to these stories, Puebloan people and Apache people were
regarded as having separate identities. The White Mountain Apache Tribe
of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona, does not claim cultural
affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary objects from
this site. As reported by Welch and Ferguson (2005), consultations
between the White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation,
Arizona, and the Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Pueblo of
Acoma, New Mexico; and Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico, have indicated
that that none of these tribes wish to pursue claims of affiliation
with sites on White Mountain Apache Tribal lands. Finally, the White
Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona, supports
the repatriation of human remains and associated funerary objects from
this site and is ready to assist the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and Zuni
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, in their reburial.
Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and the Arizona State Museum,
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Arizona State Museum
have determined that:
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described
in this notice represent the physical remains of 3 individuals of
Native American ancestry.
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 9 objects described
in this notice 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 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 the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni Tribe
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in
support of the request to John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, P.O. Box
210026, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721,
telephone (520) 626-2950, by January 3, 2017. After that date, if no
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Hopi Tribe of
Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, may
proceed.
The Arizona State Museum is responsible for notifying the Hopi
Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Indian
Reservation, Arizona; and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico, that this notice has been published.
Dated: November 15, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-28961 Filed 12-1-16; 8:45 am]
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