[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 136 (Friday, July 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34775-34776]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-17054]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Tumacacori,
AZ
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), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Tumacacori,
AZ. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from
Tumacacori Mission in Santa Cruz 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 within this notice are the sole responsibility of
the superintendent, Tumacacori National Historical Park.
A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary
objects was made by Tumacacori National Historical Park and Western
Archeological and Conservation Center 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; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New
Mexico; Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; San Carlos Apache
Tribe of San Carlos Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of
Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The Ak
Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation,
Arizona did not attend the consultation meetings but was represented by
the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation,
Arizona. The Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache
Nation, New Mexico; Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona; and the White
Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona were
contacted but did not participate in the consultation meetings.
In 1965, human remains representing a minimum of 20 individuals
were removed from Tumacacori Mission in Santa Cruz County, AZ. No known
individuals were identified. The 32 associated funerary objects are 1
stone ball/hammerstone, 1 unifacial flaked stone tool (knife), 23 beads
and 1 box of beads, 1 box of textile fragments, 1 crucifix, 2 metal
fragments, 1 majolica sherd, and 1 soil sample.
The historic period burials are Christianized Indian interments in
and around a church used during the Jesuit and Franciscan Periods. The
church from which the burials were removed was built between A.D. 1753
and A.D. 1757, but the burials could have taken place anywhere from
A.D. 1753 to A.D. 1824. The Jesuit Period ended in 1767, but a new
Franciscan church was not built until 1822. After 1822, burials were in
the Franciscan cemetery and church. However, individuals could have
been buried in the Jesuit church after the Franciscan church was built.
One of the burials included in this inventory was removed 6 inches
above the Jesuit church floor. The latest possible date for these
burials is 1848, when the last residing Native Americans departed for
San Xavier del Bac north of Tumacacori.
The human remains listed above have been identified as Native
American and determined to be culturally affiliated with the tribes
listed below based on analyses by a physical anthropologist, an
analysis of regional and archeological contexts, and information from
Spanish burial records in mission registers. During the Mission Period
individuals were buried under church floors if they were in good
standing with the Catholic Church, or by relatives after the priests
left. Church burial records show that there were very few Anglo or
Spanish priest burials at Tumacacori, and most individuals were
identified as O'odham.
Oral history, tradition, archeological evidence, and written
Spanish documents show that, historically, the Native American groups
at Tumacacori included all present day O'odham tribes, nations, and
communities. The Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin)
Reservation, Arizona consists primarily of Akimel and Tohono O'odham,
with a few families of Hia-Ced O'odham. The Gila River Indian Community
of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona and the Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River
[[Page 34776]]
Reservation are both composed primarily of Akimel O'odham along with
small populations of Maricopas who moved from the central portion of
the Gila River, around Gila Bend, to join Akimel O'odham populations
living along the Salt and Gila Rivers in the 1800s.
Historical Spanish records of baptisms, weddings, and burials
indicate that Yaqui and Apache families and individuals were also
present at the mission and were buried in church cemeteries and under
church floors. Apache groups are known to have occupied the area
historically, and Apache baptisms, marriages, and burials were recorded
by Spanish priests, especially in the 1800s. The Spanish burial records
suggest that the most common Indian burials were that of O'odham, with
smaller numbers of Apache and Yaqui.
Officials of Tumacacori National Historical Park have determined
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described
above represent the physical remains of 20 individuals of Native
American ancestry. Officials of Tumacacori National Historical Park
also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 32
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. Lastly, officials of Tumacacori
National Historical Park 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 the Native American human remains and
associated funerary objects and the Ak Chin Indian Community of the
Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Fort Sill Apache Tribe
of Oklahoma; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian
Reservation, Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Mescalero
Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Pascua Yaqui
Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt
River Reservation, Arizona; San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; Tonto Apache
Tribe of Arizona; and White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache
Reservation, Arizona.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Lisa Carrico, superintendent, Tumacacori
National Historical Park, P.O. Box 8067, Tumacacori, AZ 85640,
telephone (520) 398-2341 Ext. 52, before August 17, 2009. Repatriation
of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Ak Chin
Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona;
Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Gila River Indian Community of the
Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New
Mexico; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New
Mexico; Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; San Carlos Apache
Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of
Arizona; Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona; and White Mountain Apache Tribe
of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona may proceed after that date if
no additional claimants come forward.
Tumacacori National Historical Park is responsible for notifying
the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian
Reservation, Arizona; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Gila River
Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi
Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Mescalero Apache
Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Pascua Yaqui Tribe of
Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River
Reservation, Arizona; San Carlos Apache Tribe of San Carlos
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; Tonto Apache
Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache
Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico that this notice has been published.
Dated: June 23, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-17054 Filed 7-16-09; 8:45 am]
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