[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21412-21413]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08368]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-12584; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: Arizona State 
Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, has determined that the cultural item listed in this 
notice meets the definition of unassociated funerary object. Lineal 
descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim this 
cultural item should submit a written request to the Arizona State 
Museum. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of 
the cultural item to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native 
Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the Arizona State Museum, 
University of Arizona, at the address in this notice by May 10, 2013.

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

[[Page 21413]]

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate a cultural item under the 
control of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 
that meets the definition of unassociated funerary object 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 Item

    In 1930, a cultural item was removed from Queen Creek Ruin, also 
known as Sonoqui Pueblo, Pozos de Sonoqui, or Sun Temple Ruin (site AZ 
U:14:48(ASM)/SACATON:2:6(GP)) in Maricopa County, AZ, during legally 
authorized excavations conducted by the Gila Pueblo Foundation. The 
item was reportedly found in association with a human burial, but the 
human remains are not present in the collections. In December 1950, the 
Gila Pueblo Foundation closed and the item was donated to the Arizona 
State Museum. In 1953, the cultural item was transferred to the Field 
Museum of Natural History as a permanent loan. In 2013, the Field 
Museum transferred control of the item back to the Arizona State 
Museum. The unassociated funerary object is a stone bowl.
    Queen Creek Ruin was a large habitation site that included trash 
mounds, burials, pithouses, canals, adobe compounds, and a ballcourt. 
Architectural features, the mortuary program, ceramic types, and other 
items of material culture are consistent with the Hohokam 
archaeological tradition and indicate occupation between approximately 
A.D. 950 and 1450.
    Continuities of mortuary practices, ethnographic materials, and 
technology indicate affiliation of Hohokam settlements with present-day 
O'odham (Piman) and Puebloan cultures. On April 13, 2011, 
representatives of the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River 
Indian Reservation, Arizona, submitted documentation that 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 Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona

    Officials of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the cultural item 
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 and is 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 object 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 the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, Arizona 
State Museum, University of Arizona, PO Box 210026, Tucson, AZ 85721, 
telephone (520) 626-2950 by May 10, 2013. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
unassociated funerary object 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.
    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: March 15, 2013.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2013-08368 Filed 4-9-13; 8:45 am]
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