[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 113 (Tuesday, June 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34985-34986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office 
[www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14305]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-10363; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of the 
Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and Arizona State 
Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
and Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes, have determined that the cultural items meet 
the definition of unassociated funerary objects and repatriation to the 
Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come 
forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the cultural items may contact the 
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona at the address below by July 12, 
2012.

ADDRESSES: John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, P.O. Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721; telephone (520) 
626-2950.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the control 
of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 
Washington, DC, and in the physical custody of the Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, that meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary objects 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 in this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, 
institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native American 
cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    In 1934, cultural items were removed from the Snaketown site (AZ 
U:13:1 (ASM)), on the Gila River Indian Reservation, Pinal County, AZ, 
during archeological excavations conducted by the Gila Pueblo Foundation 
of Arizona. In December, 1950, the Gila Pueblo Foundation closed and the 
collections were donated to the Arizona State Museum. Additional cultural 
items were removed from the same site in 1964-1965 during legally 
authorized excavations conducted by the University of Arizona under the 
direction of Emil Haury. Collections obtained during the University of 
Arizona excavations were accessioned by the Arizona State Museum at the 
conclusion of the project. The items were reportedly found in association 
with human burials, but the human remains are not present in the 
collections. The 30 unassociated funerary objects are 1 ceramic plate, 1 
ceramic vessel leg, 27 ceramic sherds, and 1 chipped stone artifact. 
Other unassociated funerary objects from this site were published in 
Notices of Intent to Repatriate in the Federal Register (66 FR 15741-
15742, March 20, 2001; 69 FR 76779-76780, December 22, 2004; and 71 FR 
13164-13165, March 14, 2006).
    The archeological evidence, including characteristics of portable 
material culture, attributes of ceramic styles, domestic and ritual 
architecture, site organization, and canal-based agriculture of the 
settlement places the Snaketown site within the archeologically-defined 
Hohokam tradition, and within the Phoenix Basin local variant of that 
tradition. The occupation of the Snaketown site spans the years circa 
A.D. 500/700-1100/1150.
    Continuities of mortuary practices, ethnographic materials, and 
technology indicate affiliation of Hohokam settlements with present-day 
O'odham (Piman) and Puebloan cultures. Documentation submitted by 
representatives of the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River 
Indian Reservation, Arizona, on April 13, 2011, addresses continuities 
between the Hohokam and the O'odham tribes. Furthermore, oral traditions 
that are documented for 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; 
and the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona support affiliation with Hohokam 
sites in central Arizona.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and the Arizona State Museum, University 
of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Arizona State 
Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 30 cultural items 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have 
been removed from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of shared 
group identity that can be reasonably traced between the unassociated 
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; 
and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, P.O.

[[Page 34986]]

Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone (520) 626-2950, before July 12, 
2012. Repatriation of the unassociated 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; and the Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The Arizona State 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; and the Tohono O'odham Nation of 
Arizona that this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 7, 2012.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-14305 Filed 6-11-12; 8:45 am]
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