[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 128 (Thursday, July 3, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39966-39967]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-16803]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: U.S. Department
of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law
Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.8 (f), of the
intent to repatriate a cultural item in the possession of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of
Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, that meets the definitions of sacred
objects and cultural patrimony 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 within this notice are the sole responsibility of
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of this
cultural item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations within this notice.
The one cultural item is a 4-inch long piece of stone carved in the
shape of a horse.
During 1999 and 2000, the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM,
participated in an undercover investigation of several individuals
believed to be engaged in the illegal trafficking of Native American
cultural items. Federal agents purchased or seized several cultural
items as part of the investigation. On September 10, 2002, Joshua Baer
and Thomas Cavaliere each pled guilty to three counts of illegal
trafficking of Native American cultural items obtained in violation of
18 U.S.C. 1170 (b). On January 3 and February 12, 2003, the U.S.
District Court for the District of New Mexico ordered that all items
seized during the investigation be forfeited to the U.S. Department of
the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law
Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, and repatriated to the culturally
affiliated Indian tribes. The carved stone fetish is one of the items
forfeited to the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, prepared a summary
of the cultural items obtained during the investigation. The U.S.
Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of
Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, also consulted with representatives
of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico &
Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo
of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; and Zuni
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
Representatives of the Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico identified the
carved stone as a fetish having ongoing religious and ceremonial
significance to the pueblo as a whole. The tribal representative
explained that such stone fetishes are to be forever protected as part
of Laguna tradition. While the stone fetish may have been held by an
individual, it is considered the communal property of the Pueblo of
Laguna, New Mexico and could not have been sold.
Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), this cultural item
is a specific ceremonial object needed by traditional Native American
religious leaders for the practice of traditional Native American
religions by their present-day adherents. Officials of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of
Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, have
[[Page 39967]]
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), this cultural item
also has ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance
central to the Native American group or culture itself, rather than
property owned by an individual. Officials of the U.S. Department of
the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law
Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, have determined that, pursuant to 25
U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that
can be reasonably traced between this sacred object/object of cultural
patrimony and the Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with this sacred object/object of cultural
patrimony should contact Special Agent Lucinda D. Schroeder, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, 4901 Paseo Del Norte, Albuquerque, NM 87113,
telephone (505) 828-3064, before August 4, 2003. Repatriation of this
sacred object/object of cultural patrimony to the Pueblo of Laguna, New
Mexico may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come
forward.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Office of Law Enforcement, Albuquerque, NM, is responsible for
notifying the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico
& Utah; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico;
Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; and
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has
been published.
Dated: May 27, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-16803 Filed 7-2-03; 8:45 am]
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