[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 125 (Tuesday, June 30, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 35608]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-17312]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains
and Associated Funerary Objects from New Mexico in the Possession of
the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology,
Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9,
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated
funerary objects in the possession of the Museum of Indian Arts and
Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Museum of
Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology professional staff
in consultation with representatives of the Pueblo of Pojoaque.
In 1953, human remains representing two individuals were removed
from the Pojoaque Grant site (LA 835) during legally authorized
excavations under a National Park Service Federal Antiquities permit by
Museum of New Mexico staff during a New Mexico State Highway and
Transportation Department work project. No known individuals were
identified. The two associated funerary objects are ceramic vessels.
Based on the associated funerary objects and other cultural
material present, the Pojoaque Grant site has been identified as an
Ancestral Puebloan site, occupied between 850--1100 A.D. Further, this
site is located on Pueblo of Pojoaque tribal lands. Based on material
culture, continuity of occupation, and oral history presented by
representatives of the Pueblo of Pojoaque, this site is affiliated with
the present-day Pueblo of Pojoaque.
Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the Museum
of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology have determined
that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above
represent the physical remains of two individuals of Native American
ancestry. Officials of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory
of Anthropology have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2
(d)(2), the two objects listed 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. Lastly, officials of
the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology have
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship
of shared group identity which can be reasonably traced between these
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and the
Pueblo of Pojoaque.
This notice has been sent to officials of the Pueblo of Pojoaque.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Patricia House, Director, Museum of Indian Arts
and Cultures/Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, P.O. Box
2087, Santa Fe, NM 87504-2087; telephone: (505) 827-6344; before July
30, 1998. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects to the Pueblo of Pojoaque may begin after that date if no
additional claimants come forward.
Dated: June 23, 1998.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 98-17312 Filed 6-29-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F
