2018-22596. Notice of Inventory Completion: Arizona State Parks and Trails, Phoenix, AZ, and Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Arizona State Parks and Trails and the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, have completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and have determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects 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 request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request with information in support of the request to the Arizona State Museum at the address in this notice by November 16, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, P.O. Box 210026, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

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 under the control of the Arizona State Parks and Trails (ASPT), Phoenix, AZ, and in the physical custody of the Arizona State Museum (ASM), University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Santa Cruz and Yuma Counties, 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 museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. 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 ASM professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Ak-Chin Indian Community (previously listed as the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona); Cocopah Tribe of Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & 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, hereafter referred to as “The Consulted Tribes.”

History and Description of the Remains

In 1981, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from site AZ EE:9:91(ASM), located in Patagonia Lake State Park, Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The human remains were collected during a survey project directed by Kurt Dongoske and a testing project conducted by the Cultural Resource Management Division of the ASM under the direction of John Czaplicki. The human remains were brought to ASM and an accession number was assigned in 1990. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are present. This site is described as a Hohokam village. Based on material culture, the site likely dates to A.D. 950-1300, during the Sedentary and early Classic Periods of the Hohokam cultural sequence.

At an unknown date prior to 1948, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from an unrecorded location, AZ X:8:—Wellton vicinity, on land south of Wellton in Yuma County, AZ. The human remains, contained in a ceramic jar, were collected by John Draper. In 1948, Mr. Draper donated the human remains and jar to the Yuma Territorial Prison Museum, which later came under the control of ASPT. In December 2000, ASP transferred the collection to ASM. No known individuals were identified. The one associated funerary object is a ceramic jar. The human remains and jar may have been removed from a cave, but there is no more specific information regarding the location or archeological context. The ceramic vessel is classified as Gila Plain, Gila Variety and is characteristic of ceramics produced by Hohokam people residing along the middle Gila River between Florence and Gila Bend, Arizona. The vessel likely dates to A.D. 950-1150, during the Sedentary Period of the Hohokam cultural sequence.

Archeologists describe the earliest settlements in southern Arizona as belonging to the Late Archaic/Early Agricultural horizon. Recent archeological investigations have added support to the hypothesis that the Hohokam cultural tradition arose from the earlier horizon, based on continuities in settlement pattern, architectural technologies, irrigation technologies, subsistence patterns, and material culture. It has been difficult for archeologists to date the beginning of the Hohokam period because the appearance of its distinctive cultural traits, including ceramic technologies and mortuary patterns, was a gradual process spanning several hundred years. This observation adds further support to the hypothesis that the Hohokam tradition evolved in place from earlier Late Archaic traditions. Linguistic evidence furthermore suggests that the Hohokam tradition was multiethnic in nature. Cultural continuity between these prehistoric occupants of Southern Arizona and present-day O'odham peoples is supported by continuities in settlement pattern, architectural technologies, basketry, textiles, ceramic technology, and ritual practices. Oral traditions that are documented for the Ak-Chin Indian Community (previously listed as 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 the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona, support cultural affiliation with Late Archaic/Early Agricultural period and Hohokam sites in southern Arizona.

Oral traditions that are documented for the Hopi Tribe also support cultural affiliation with Late Archaic/Early Agricultural period and Hohokam sites in the region. Several Hopi clans and religious societies are derived from ancestors who migrated from the south and likely identified with the Hohokam tradition.

Oral traditions of medicine societies and kiva groups of the Zuni Tribe recount migration from distant portions of the Southwest to present day Zuni, and support affiliation with Hohokam and Late Archaic traditions. Historical linguistic analysis also suggests interaction between ancestral Zuni and Uto-Aztecan speakers during the late Hohokam period.

Determinations Made by Arizona State Parks and Trails (ASPT) and the Arizona State Museum (ASM)

Officials of ASPT and ASM have determined that:

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the one object described in this notice 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 objects and the Ak-Chin Indian Community (previously listed as 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, hereafter referred to as “The Tribes.”

Additional Requestors and Disposition

Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request with information in support of the request to John McClelland, NAGPRA Coordinator, P.O. Box 210026, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, telephone [phone], email [e-mail], by November 16, 2018. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.

The ASM is responsible for notifying The Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

Dated: September 14, 2018.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.