[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 92 (Thursday, May 13, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 26988]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11455]
[[Page 26988]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Colorado Museum,
Boulder, 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 possession of the
University of Colorado Museum, Boulder, CO. The human remains were
removed from Montezuma 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 University
of Colorado Museum professional staff in consultation with
representatives of the Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Southern Ute Indian
Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; 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, human remains representing a minimum of one
individual were removed from Yellow Jacket, Montezuma County, CO, by an
unknown individual. No known individual was identified. No associated
funerary objects are present.
Between 1954 and 1990, Dr. Joe Ben Wheat and students participating
in University of Colorado Museum sponsored archeological field schools
worked near the Yellow Jacket Pueblo ruin. During that time, human
remains representing several hundred individuals were removed from
three sites near Yellow Jacket Pueblo (5MT1, 5MT2, and 5MT3), Montezuma
County, CO, during legally conducted excavations, as described in the
Federal Register (71 FR 53470-53473, September 11, 2006). Also during
that time, a local land owner made a donation to the museum of human
remains representing one Ute individual excavated from private land at
the edge of Yellow Jacket Canyon, as described in the Federal Register
(72 FR 36030-36031, July 2, 2007). In February 2009, the human remains
described in this notice were found in the museum.
Based on the biological evidence, the human remains are Native
American. Officials of the University of Colorado Museum reasonably
believe the human remains are Ute based on the biological and
geographical evidence. Historical accounts located the bands that are
now Federally-recognized as the Ute Mountain Tribe and the Southern Ute
Indian Tribe in an area stretching from southwestern to south central
Colorado, and from there to northwestern New Mexico. Historical
accounts placed the other Ute bands that are now the Ute Indian Tribe
of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation in an area between the Gunnison River
in Colorado and the Uintah Basin in Utah (A.D. 1800). The ``Indian Land
Areas Judicially Established 1978 Map,'' indicates a legal claim to
land in southwestern Colorado based upon historic use by the Ute and
Navajo tribes. In the last 250 years, the presence of the Ute tribes in
the area of western Colorado has been historically documented by both
Spanish and U.S. records. The present northern boundary of the Ute
Mountain Reservation is only 12 miles south of the burial site.
Officials of the University of Colorado Museum have determined
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described above
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American
ancestry. Officials of the University of Colorado Museum also have
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 Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the
Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah &
Ouray Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Steve
Lekson, Curator of Anthropology, University of Colorado Museum,
Henderson Building, Campus Box 218, Boulder, CO 80309-0218, telephone
(303) 492-6671, before June 14, 2010. Repatriation of the human remains
to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation,
Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; and
Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New
Mexico & Utah may proceed after that date if no additional claimants
come forward.
The University of Colorado Museum is responsible for notifying the
Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Southern Ute Indian Tribe of the Southern
Ute Reservation, Colorado; 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: May 5, 2010.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-11455 Filed 5-12-10; 8:45 am]
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