2017-08872. Notice of Inventory Completion: History Colorado, Formerly Colorado Historical Society, Denver, CO

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

History Colorado, formerly Colorado Historical Society, has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and any present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 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 should submit a written request to History Colorado. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES:

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 should submit a written request with information in support of the request to History Colorado at the address in this notice by June 2, 2017.

ADDRESSES:

Sheila Goff, NAGPRA Liaison, History Colorado, 1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203, 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 under the control of History Colorado, Denver, CO. The human remains were removed from an unknown location in Pueblo County, CO.

This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 43 CFR 10.11(d). 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. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by History Colorado professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma); Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Crow Tribe of Montana; Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming (previously listed as the Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming); Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (previously listed as the Pueblo of San Juan); Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota; Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota; Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (previously listed as the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah); and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico. The following tribes were invited to consult but did not participate: the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, South Dakota; Oglala Sioux Tribe (previously listed as the Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota); and Rosebud Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota. Hereafter all tribes listed above are referred to as “The Consulted and Invited Tribes.”

History and Description of the Remains

In the 1950s, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were removed from an unknown location in Pueblo County, CO, by a private citizen. The human remains were discovered in the estate of a private individual and turned over to the Pueblo Police Department who ruled out forensic interest. On July 25, 2016, the Pueblo Police Department notified the Office of the State Archaeologist and transferred the human remains to History Colorado. The human remains (OAHP 318) were determined to be of Native American ancestry and of indeterminate sex and age. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are present.

At the time of the excavation and removal of these human remains, the land from which the human remains were removed was not the tribal land of any Indian tribe. In January and February 2017, History Colorado consulted with all Indian tribes who are recognized as aboriginal to Pueblo County, CO, where these Native American human remains were removed. These tribes are the Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma); and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana. None of these Indian tribes agreed to accept control of the human remains. The aboriginal land tribes requested in writing that the human remains be transferred according to the Process for Consultation, Transfer and Reburial of Culturally Unidentifiable Native American Human Remains and Associated Funerary Objects Originating From Inadvertent Discoveries on Colorado State and Private Lands (Process) (2008, unpublished, on file with the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation). Consultation with the additional tribes listed under Consultation in this notice was conducted with tribes in the Great Plains Consultation Region of the Process to determine disposition. Under the Process, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado, and the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah agreed to accept transfer of the human remains.

History Colorado, in partnership with the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (previously listed as the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah), conducted tribal consultations among the tribes with ancestral ties to the State of Colorado to develop the process for disposition of culturally unidentifiable Native American human remains and associated funerary objects originating from inadvertent discoveries on Colorado State and private lands. As a result of the consultation, the Process was developed.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee (Review Committee) is responsible for recommending specific actions for disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains. On November 3-4, 2006, the Process was presented to the Review Committee for consideration. A January 8, 2007, letter on behalf of the Review Committee from the Designated Federal Officer transmitted the provisional authorization to proceed with the Process upon receipt of formal responses from the Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico, and the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, subject to forthcoming conditions imposed by the Secretary of the Interior. On May 15-16, 2008, the responses from the Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico, and the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma were submitted to the Review Committee. On September 23, 2008, the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, as the designee for the Secretary of the Interior, transmitted the authorization for the disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains according to the Process and NAGPRA, pending publication of a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register. This notice fulfills that requirement.

43 CFR 10.11 was promulgated on March 15, 2010, to provide a process for the disposition of culturally unidentifiable Native American human remains recovered from tribal or aboriginal lands as established by the final judgment of the Indian Claims Commission or U.S. Court of Claims, a treaty, Act of Congress, or Executive Order, or other authoritative governmental sources. As there is no evidence to suggest that the human remains originated from tribal land and the tribes with aboriginal land did not wish to accept transfer of control, the human remains listed in this notice are eligible for transfer of control under the Process.

Determinations Made by History Colorado

Officials of History Colorado have determined that:

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described in this notice are Native American based on osteological analysis.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
• Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(2)(i) and the Process, the disposition of the human remains may be to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (previously listed as the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah).

Additional Requestors and Disposition

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 should submit a written request with information in support of the request to Sheila Goff, NAGPRA Liaison, History Colorado, 1200 Broadway, Denver, CO 80203, telephone [phone], email [e-mail], by June 2, 2017. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado, and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (previously listed as the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah) may proceed.

History Colorado is responsible for notifying The Consulted and Invited Tribes that this notice has been published.

Dated: March 27, 2017.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.