Federal Register / Vol. 59, No. 211 / Wednsday, November 2, 1994
/ Notices Page 54921
Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items in the Possession
of the USDA Forest Service.
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior
ACTION: Notice.
_________________________________________________________________
Notice is hereby given under provisions of the Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of the intent to
repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Cibola
National Forest, USDA Forest Service, that meet the definition of
"sacred object" under Section 2 of the Act.
The items consist of 30 essentially complete prayer sticks of
aspen and willow, 5 fragments of prayer sticks, one red flicker
feather, one cornhusk, and a small amount of deteriorating
organic matter. The items were reportedly gathered in 1977 or
1978 by an anonymous collector from a cairn/shrine on Mt. Taylor,
NM. The items were returned to the possession of the USDA Forest
Service in 1991 or 1992. The precise location of the cairn/shrine
is not known.
The objects in this collection resemble the prayer sticks
described and illustrated in Leslie A. White's The Acoma Indians
(Smithsonian Institution, 1932: 126-129). Representatives of the
Pueblo of Acoma have inspected the items and confirm their
identification as prayer sticks. The representatives of the
Pueblo of Acoma indicate that prayer sticks are left as offerings
at a cairn/shrine located on Mt. Taylor as part of their
traditional religious practice. Once left as an offering, the
Acoma religion requires that such prayer sticks not be disturbed.
Reginald T. Pasqual, governor of the Pueblo of Acoma, has claimed
the prayer sticks and associated materials as sacred objects and
requested their repatriation to the Pueblo of Acoma. The Hopi
Tribe and the Navajo Nation have been consulted and both support
the claim of the Pueblo of Acoma to this particular collection of
prayer sticks from Mt. Taylor.
Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the USDA
Forest Service have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001
(3)(C), that these items are specific ceremonial objects needed
by the traditional religious leaders of the Pueblo of Acoma for
the practice of their traditional religion by its present day
adherents. Officials of the USDA Forest Service have further
determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), that there is a
relationship of shared group identity which can be reasonably
traced between these items and the Pueblo of Acoma.
This notice has been sent to officials of the Pueblo of Acoma.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe which believes itself
to be culturally affiliated with these cultural items should
contact Dr. Frank E. Wozniak, NAGPRA Coordinator, Southwestern
Region, USDA Forest Service, 517 Gold Avenue, S.W., Albuquerque,
NM 87102, telephone: (505) 842-3238, before December 2, 1994.
Repatriation of these sacred objects to the Pueblo of Acoma may
begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
Dated: October 12, 1994 Veletta Canouts, Ph.D.
Acting Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Acting Chief, Archeological Assistance Division
[FR Doc. 94-27078 Filed 11-1-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F
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