[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 4, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23805-23806]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-10381]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, Grand Junction Field Office, Grand Junction,
CO and Mesa State College, Grand Junction, CO
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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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 in the joint control of the
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Grand
Junction Field Office, Grand Junction, CO, and Mesa State College,
Grand Junction, CO. The human remains were removed from Mesa 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). 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.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Bureau of
Land Management, Grand Junction Field Office and Mesa State College
professional staff, in consultation with representatives of the Hopi
Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian
Tribe of Oklahoma; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Ohkay
Owingeh,
[[Page 23806]]
New Mexico; Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New
Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New
Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the
Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North
& South Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation,
Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado,
New Mexico & Utah.
On an unknown date in the 1970s, human remains representing two
individuals were removed from an unknown location near Grand Mesa, in
Mesa County, CO. On April 1, 2009, the human remains were discovered in
the Geology Department of Mesa State College by college staff, and were
reported to the Ute Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, and
subsequently to the Bureau of Land Management. Based on investigations
into their origin and placement at Mesa State College, most likely
these remains were unofficially removed in the 1970s from public lands
near Grand Mesa, CO, by Mesa State College students who were hiking in
the area. The students brought the remains to Mesa State College, where
they were studied and later stored in the Geology Department. No known
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
Although the description of the original site location is not
specific enough to determine land ownership status, most of the land in
the general region was Federal land administered by the Bureau of Land
Management at the time the remains were removed. Therefore, the Bureau
of Land Management assumes control of the human remains for the
purposes of NAGPRA compliance. Because provenience is limited to a
regional area, and the remains were collected by Mesa State College
students and stored by Mesa State College, the college has shared
control with the Bureau of Land Management. After their discovery in
the college's Geology Department, the remains were transported by
Bureau of Land Management staff to the Museum of Western Colorado for
secure storage pending repatriation.
The human remains consist of two adult individuals of considerable
antiquity, and are likely Native Americans. Their reported burial
within rock crevices correlates with Native American burial practices,
particularly those of the Ute culture. Furthermore, the original
location of the human remains lies within traditional Ute lands, and
within proximity to Ute sites and historic trails.
Officials of the Bureau of Land Management and Mesa State College
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9)-(10), the human
remains described above represent the physical remains of two
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of
Land Management and Mesa State College have also determined that,
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 the Ute Tribes - Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute
Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah; and, in particular,
the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Dan
Haas, State Archaeologist, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State
Office, 2850 Youngfield St., Lakewood, CO 80215-7076, telephone (303)
239-3647, before June 3, 2010. Repatriation of the human remains to the
Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah, may proceed
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for notifying the Hopi
Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa Indian
Tribe of Oklahoma; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico & Utah; Ohkay
Owingeh, New Mexico; Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah; Pueblo of San
Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa
Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Shoshone-Bannock
Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation of Idaho; Southern Ute Indian Tribe
of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of
North & South Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray
Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah, that this notice has been
published.
Dated: April 16, 2010.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-10381 Filed 5-3-10; 8:45 am]
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