[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11575-11576]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office 
[www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4515]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

 National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Grand Rapids Public Museum 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 the Grand Rapids Public Museum. 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 object should 
contact the Grand Rapids Public Museum at the address below by March 28, 
2012.

ADDRESSES: Marilyn Merdzinski, Director of Collections and Preservation, 
Grand Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW., Grand Rapids, MI 49504, 
telephone (616) 929-1801.

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 an associated funerary 
object in the possession of the Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI. 
The human remains and associated funerary object were removed from an unknown 
location.

[[Page 11576]]

    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 and associated funerary object. 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 Grand Rapids 
Public Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona on behalf of themselves 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; and the 
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, 
Arizona. The Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, and the Hopi 
Tribe of Arizona indicated they were affiliated with the Hohokam culture but 
did not take part in consultation.

History and Description of the Remains

    At an unknown date, a Hohokam red on buff swirl designed vessel 
containing the cremated remains of one individual was removed from an unknown 
location by an unknown individual. At an unknown date, G.S. Knapp acquired 
the Hohokam crematory vessel. In 1914, G.S. Knapp sold the vessel to the 
Grand Rapids Public Museum. No known individuals were identified. The one 
associated funerary object is a pottery vessel.
    Although the Grand Rapids Public Museum's records state that the vessel 
is from ``Flats of Doe Run, MO'' and is from a mound builder culture, 
Missouri is not an area traditionally occupied by the Hohokam, and the vessel 
type is indicative of an Arizona origin. On November 12, 2010, the vessel was 
identified by Peter Steere of the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona as being 
an Early-Middle Rincon Phase Red-on-Brown design from the Tucson Basin, ca. 
A.D. 1100. In 1990, 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; Salt River Pima-Maricopa 
Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham 
Nation of Arizona issued a joint policy statement claiming ancestral ties to 
the Hohokam cultural traditions.

Determinations Made by the Grand Rapids Public Museum

    Officials of the Grand Rapids Public Museum 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 one object described above is 
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 associated funerary object and the Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona; Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; and the Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona.

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 Marilyn Merdzinski, Director of Collections and Preservation, Grand 
Rapids Public Museum, 272 Pearl St. NW., Grand Rapids, MI 49504, telephone 
(616) 929-1801, March 28, 2012. Repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Grand Rapids Public Museum is responsible for notifying 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 the Zuni Tribe of 
the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 22, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-4515 Filed 2-24-12; 8:45 am]
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