[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 28, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 33428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-15883]
[[Page 33428]]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Notice of Inventory Completion for Human Remains in the
Possession of Pipe Spring National Monument, National Park Service,
Moccasin, AZ
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is hereby given under the Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d), of completion of Inventory for
Native American human remains in the possession of the National Park
Service at Pipe Spring National Monument, Moccasin, AZ.
The human remains represent four individuals. The first set of
remains (accession PISP-00155, catalog PISP 667) has been identified as
male and consists of a cranium. The second set of remains (accession
PISP-00155) has been identified as male and consists of a cranium and
mandible (catalog PISP 668); a tibial shaft segment (catalog PISP 675);
and a fibular fragment (catalog PISP 676). Accession records indicate
that both sets of remains were excavated from south of the Pipe Spring
fortified ranch house, and given to the National Park Service by former
Monument Custodian Leonard Heaton in 1939.
The third set of remains--unaccessioned and uncatalogued--has been
identified as female and consists of a cranium, one phalange, one
metatarsal, four small rib fragments, and two disarticulated pieces of
the left temporal. The fourth set of remains--also unaccessioned and
uncatalogued--has been identified as female and consists of twelve
cranial fragments and a fragment of the head of a femur. National Park
Service records do not indicate the location where these sets of
remains were found, or information on how the remains came into the
possession of the Monument. The Monument is asserting control over
these human remains.
The Kaibab Paiute Tribe expressed interest in repatriation of these
remains as early as July 1992 and have agreed to efforts to date and
identify the cultural affiliation of the remains. As a result, the
National Park Service arranged for an assessment of the remains by Dr.
Mark Taylor, Professor of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, in
December 1992. Dr. Taylor concluded that all four sets of remains were
of prehistoric Native Americans, who died over seven-hundred years
before present.
Given the standing interest of the Kaibab Paiute Tribe in
repatriation of these remains and the findings of Dr. Taylor,
additional consultations with the Kaibab Paiute and Hopi tribes were
conducted in 1993. There is archaeological evidence for ties between
both Kaibab Paiute and Hopi culture and prehistoric Puebloan culture in
the Arizona Strip area north of the Grand Canyon. Both tribes also have
oral traditions linking their cultures to prehistoric occupants of the
area. National Park Service consultations with the Hopi tribe resulted
in agreement that the Hopi tribe would defer to the Kaibab Paiute
regarding this repatriation given that the remains came from Kaibab
Paiute traditional lands. The Kaibab Paiute Tribe formally requested
repatriation of the human remains on January 4, 1995. Based upon the
Kaibab Paiute aboriginal occupancy of the area where the human remains
appear to have been found, and a preponderance of the evidence
supporting a cultural affiliation of the remains with the Kaibab Paiute
Tribe, as well as Hopi concurrence in repatriation to the Kaibab Paiute
Tribe, the National Park Service has concluded that repatriation to the
Kaibab Paiute Tribe is appropriate.
Inventory of the human remains and funerary objects and review of
accompanying documentation from the four sets of Native American human
remains listed above indicate that no known individuals were
identifiable.
Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the National
Park Service have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2),
there is a relationship of shared group identity which can be
reasonably traced between the Native American human remains and the
Kaibab Paiute Tribe.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact John W.
Hiscock, Superintendent, Pipe Spring National Monument, HC 65 Box 5,
Fredonia, AZ 86022, telephone, (520) 643-7105, before July 28, 1995.
Repatriation of the four sets of human remains to the Kaibab Paiute
Tribe of Arizona will begin after that date if no additional claimants
come forward.
Dated: June 22, 1995.
Veletta Canouts,
Acting Departmental Consulting Archeologist and Acting Chief,
Archeological Assistance Division
[FR Doc. 95-15883 Filed 6-27-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F
