[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77012-77013]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31614]



[[Page 77012]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ajo, AZ and 
Arizona State Museum, Tucson, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice

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SUMMARY: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument has completed an inventory 
of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with 
the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is a 
cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects and present-day Indian tribes. Representatives of any Indian 
tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human 
remains and associated funerary objects may contact Organ Pipe Cactus 
National Monument. Repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no 
additional claimants come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument at the 
address below by January 9, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Lee Baiza, Superintendent, Organ Pipe Cactus National 
Monument, 10 Organ Pipe Drive, Ajo, AZ 85321, telephone (520) 387-6849 
ext. 7500.

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 in the control of Organ Pipe Cactus 
National Monument, Ajo, AZ and in the physical custody of the Arizona 
State Museum, Tucson, AZ. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from site AZ Y:16:002 (ASM) in Pima 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 in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
Superintendent, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Organ Pipe 
Cactus National Monument and Arizona State Museum 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; Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California 
and Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona. The Cocopah Tribe of 
Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona and California; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of 
Arizona, California, and Nevada; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the 
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico were also contacted for consultation 
purposes.

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1951 and 1954, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from site AZ Y:16:002 (ASM) in Pima County, AZ. 
The remains were removed during archeological fieldwork under the 
direction of Paul H. Ezell in a cooperative project between Arizona 
State Museum and the National Park Service. Project collections were 
stored at the NPS Southwestern National Monuments Headquarters, also 
known as the Southwest Archaeological Center, in Globe, AZ, for 
analysis and report preparation. The professional report was never 
completed. It is unclear at what point the cremated remains came to be 
in collections storage at the Arizona State Museum. No known 
individuals were identified. The 38 associated funerary objects are 2 
faunal bone fragments and 36 fragments of charcoal.
    Based upon the archeological context, including the presence of 
Tanque Verde Red-on-Brown ceramics, the remains have been determined to 
be Native American dating to A.D. 1150-1450, commonly known to the 
archeological community as the Classic Hohokam period.
    A relationship of shared group identity can reasonably be traced 
between members of the Hohokam culture and the four southern O'odham 
tribes of Arizona. The O'odham people comprise four Federally 
recognized Indian tribes (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) and one Indian Group that is not Federally 
recognized, the Hia C-ed O'odham. A Hia C-ed O'odham association with 
lands lying directly to the west of the Ajo Mountains, including Organ 
Pipe Cactus National Monument, is documented throughout the historic 
period and into the 20th century.
    O'odham oral histories describe the end time of the Hohokam, when 
O'odham armies gathered and marched on the Great House communities 
(e.g., Casa Grande, Pueblo Grande) and cast out the Hohokam societies 
there. The armies then occupied the conquered lands, intermarrying with 
the remnants of the Hohokam and ultimately becoming the O'odham people. 
Other evidence of the O'odham-Hohokam connection includes similar 
settlement patterns, irrigation systems, residence styles, and a 
possible relationship between modern O'odham kickball games and formal 
Hohokam ball courts.
    A relationship of shared group identity can also reasonably be 
traced between members of the Hohokam culture and the Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona. Hopi history is based, in large part, on clan migration 
narratives. The Hopi consider all of Arizona to be within traditional 
Hopi lands, i.e., areas in and through which Hopi clans are believed to 
have migrated in the past. Hopi oral history and the anthropological 
record show that some clans originated in the Salt-Gila region and were 
descended from the Hohokam. After the fall of the Great House 
communities, Hohokam refugees were absorbed into the Hopi culture.
    A relationship of shared group identity can also reasonably be 
traced between members of the Hohokam culture and the Zuni Tribe of the 
Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. Zuni oral history tells of ancestral 
migrations and settling throughout this region in their search for the 
Middle Place of the World (present day Pueblo of Zuni). Elders have 
identified features in the area, including shrines and petroglyphs, as 
Zuni. Zuni ancestors left many markers of their passing including 
trails, habitation sites, campsites, burials, sacred shrines, and rock 
art.

Determinations Made by Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

    Officials of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument have determined 
that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 38 objects described 
above are reasonably believed to have been placed

[[Page 77013]]

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 associated 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 Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Lee Baiza, Superintendent, Organ Pipe Cactus 
National Monument, 10 Organ Pipe Drive, Ajo, AZ 85321, telephone (520) 
387-6849 ext. 7500 before January 9, 2012. Repatriation of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to 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 Zuni 
Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed after that date 
if no additional claimants come forward.
    Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is responsible for notifying 
the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Cocopah Tribe of Arizona; Colorado River Indian 
Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, Arizona and 
California; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California, and 
Nevada; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Quechan Tribe of the Fort 
Yuma Indian Reservation, California and Arizona; Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; 
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 5, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-31614 Filed 12-8-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-50-P