2017-08859. Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, AZ

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Museum of Northern Arizona, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. 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 to the Museum of Northern Arizona. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items 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 Museum of Northern Arizona at the address in this notice by June 2, 2017.

ADDRESSES:

Elaine Hughes, Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, telephone [phone] x228, 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the control of the Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, 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 1978 and 1979, 105 cultural items were removed from the Cashion site (NA14690) in Maricopa County, AZ, during authorized archeological investigations conducted by the Museum of Arizona on behalf of the Arizona Nuclear Power Project, prior to the construction of a wastewater conveyance system that was to provide water to cool the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. The 105 unassociated funerary objects are 14 pottery and ceramic fragments, 30 jewelry items and fragments, 2 pollen samples, 2 faunal bone fragments, 51 projectile points, and 6 tools and implements. The cultural items are associated with seven features identified by the field archeologists as secondary human cremations. No human bone was recovered.

Based on archeological evidence, geographic location, and object classification, these cultural items were made by Native Americans. Archeological evidence indicates that the Cashion site (NA14690), within the Salt River area of central Arizona, was occupied during the period A.D. 700-900 by the Hohokam people, for whom cremation was a common mortuary practice. Hopi and Zuni oral traditions also indicate that segments of the prehistoric Hohokam population migrated to areas occupied by the ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni and were assimilated into the resident populations. Archeological, historical, and oral tradition evidence indicate that there is a relationship of shared group identity between the Hohokam people and the present-day Piman and O'odham cultures, represented by 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 Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.

Determinations Made by the Museum of Northern Arizona

Officials of the Museum of Northern Arizona have determined that :

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 105 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; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.

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 Elaine Hughes, Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 North Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, telephone [phone] x228, email [e-mail], by June 2, 2017.

After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control 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; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed.

The Museum of Northern Arizona 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 Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has been published.

Dated: March 22, 2017.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.