[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 148 (Tuesday, August 3, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45657-45658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-19001]
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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 control of the
University of Colorado Museum, Boulder, CO. The human remains were
removed from Washington 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 the
University of Colorado Museum professional staff in consultation with
representatives of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Arapahoe Tribe of the
Wind River Reservation, Wyoming; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma;
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South
Dakota; Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Crow Tribe of Montana; 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; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Rosebud
Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; 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 Indian Tribe of the
Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; and Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute
Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.
In 1953, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals
were removed from the Claypool site, Washington County, CO, by the
University of Colorado Museum. Local residents had been collecting
artifacts in that area for years. In January 2004, the human remains
were discovered in the museum during an inventory. No known individuals
were identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
The human remains are Native American based on the biological
assessment and the site context. The Claypool site appears to have been
a Cody Complex campsite. Diagnostic artifacts found there include Eden
points, a Scottsbluff point, and a Cody knife. Other material culture
consists of scrapers, numerous stone flakes, charred and uncharred
bone, and pieces of grooved sandstone. The stratigraphy indicates the
artifacts are postglacial and date from 10,000 to 7,000 years ago.
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 three individuals of Native American
ancestry. Lastly, officials of the University of Colorado Museum have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of
shared group identity cannot reasonably be traced between the Native
American human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review
Committee (Review Committee) is responsible for recommending specific
actions for disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains. In
October 2009, the University of Colorado Museum requested that the
Review Committee recommend disposition of the culturally unidentifiable
human remains to the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain
Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah, based on aboriginal land
claims supported by oral tradition, as well as the support of the other
Indian tribes consulted. The Comanche Nation, Oklahoma, and Pawnee
Nation of Oklahoma signed the disposition agreement in support of the
disposition to the Ute Mountain Tribe. Furthermore, none of the Indian
tribes consulted objected to the determination of ``culturally
unidentifiable'' status by the University of Colorado Museum and the
disposition to the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation,
Colorado, New Mexico & Utah.
The Review Committee considered the proposal at its October 30-31,
2009, meeting and recommended disposition of the human remains to the
Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New
Mexico & Utah. The Secretary of the Interior agreed with the Review
Committee's recommendation. An April 19, 2010, letter from the
Designated Federal Officer, writing on behalf of the Secretary of the
Interior, transmitted the authorization for the University of Colorado
Museum to effect disposition of the physical remains of the culturally
unidentifiable individuals to the Ute Mountain Tribe of the Ute
Mountain Reservation, Colorado, New Mexico & Utah, contingent on the
publication of a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal
Register. This notice fulfills that requirement.
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, in care
of Jan Bernstein, NAGPRA Consultant, Bernstein & Associates, 1041
Lafayette Street, Denver, CO 80218, telephone (303) 894-0648, before
September 2, 2010. Disposition of the human remains to the 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
Apache Tribe of Oklahoma; Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation,
Wyoming; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma; Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation, South Dakota; Comanche Nation,
Oklahoma; Crow Tribe of Montana; Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma;
Jicarilla Apache Nation, New Mexico; Kiowa
[[Page 45658]]
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero
Reservation, New Mexico; Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern
Cheyenne Indian Reservation, Montana; Oglala Sioux Tribe of the Pine
Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Rosebud
Sioux Tribe of the Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota; 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 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: July 26, 2010
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-19001 Filed 8-2-10; 8:45 am]
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