Notice2024-14473
Notice of Inventory Completion: Aurora History Museum and Historic Sites, Aurora, CO
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 1, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Aurora History Museum and Historic Sites has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 126 (Monday, July 1, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 126 (Monday, July 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54502-54503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-14473]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038196; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Aurora History Museum and
Historic Sites, Aurora, CO
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Aurora History Museum and Historic Sites
has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between
the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or
Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after July 31, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Elizabeth Ricci, Aurora History Museum and Historic Sites,
15051 East Alameda Parkway, Aurora, CO 80012, telephone (303) 739-6660,
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0e6b7c676d6d674e6f7b7c617c6f69617820617c69"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6500170c06060c250410170a1704020a134b0a1702">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA.
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the
Aurora History Museum and Historic Sites, and additional information on
the determinations in this notice, including the results of
consultation, can be found in its inventory or related records. The
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this
notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have been
identified. The eight associated funerary objects are five charcoals,
two shells, and one lithic.
In April of 1982, two neighborhood children discovered human bone
eroding from the bank of West Toll Gate Creek in Arapahoe County:
Aurora, Colorado. The children reported their find, and the site was
excavated soon after. Site 5AH 244 is located on the first terrace
above and on the cut bank of West Toll Gate Creek. The objective of the
excavation was to recover human remains, reinter, and document as much
information on the burial as possible. A Medicine Man, Charlie Kills
Enemy of the Sioux Tribe, was in the area at the time and brought in to
ensure proper
[[Page 54503]]
care of the remains. Charlie Kills Enemy conducted a ceremony to ask
the ancestors if they have permission to perform carbon dating test,
they agreed. The ancestors were then asked where they would like to be
reinterred. They requested to be buried on a hill. The human remains,
an amazonite pendent, and an atlatl weight were reinterred in June of
1985 at Golden Gate Canyon State Park on five acers of land designated
for the Tribes just northwest of Golden, Colorado prior to NAGPRA law.
A ceremony took place with Elders from the Shoshone and Cheyenne
Tribes. A Medicine Man was present from the Arapaho Tribe. The Elders
and Medicine Man were not named. Reinternment was on a hill as
requested. The exact reinternment site is unknown to the museum. We are
working with Golden Gate Canyon State Park to find the location.
We recently discovered a collection of objects and items related to
the burial site 5AH 244. Within the collection are soil samples that
were taken from the burial pits, a chest cavity, and surrounding earth.
The soil samples contain pieces of bone not consistent with the animal
bones that have been found within the collection. These bones are seen
as remnants of the two individuals previously found. Items that appear
to be associated funerary objects are five charcoals, two shells, and
one lithic. There are animal bones, lithics, flakes, soils, and a
petrified wood knife that are not associated with the burial. It was
requested by the Arapaho and Cheyenne council that the entire
collection including non-associated items be reinterred in the exact
spot of the original reinternment or as close as possible.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains and associated
funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The Aurora History Museum and Historic Sites has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The eight objects described in this notice are reasonably
believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual
human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite
or ceremony.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Cheyenne
and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
authorized representative identified in this notice under ADDRESSES.
Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:
1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice.
2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal
descendant or an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after July 31,
2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Aurora
History Museum and Historic Sites must determine the most appropriate
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the
human remains and associated funerary objects are considered a single
request and not competing requests. The Aurora History Museum and
Historic Sites is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the
Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this
notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: June 24, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-14473 Filed 6-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 1, 2024.
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