Notice2025-05613
Notice of Intended Repatriation: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Petrified Forest National Park, Petrified Forest, AZ
Primary source
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Published
April 2, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 62 (Wednesday, April 2, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 62 (Wednesday, April 2, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 14460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05613]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039818; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service, Petrified Forest National Park, Petrified
Forest, AZ
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 U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service, Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO) intends to
repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of
unassociated funerary objects that have a cultural affiliation with the
Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after May 2, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Superintendent, Petrified Forest National Park, 1 Park Road
#2217, Petrified Forest, AZ 86028, telephone (928) 524-6228 Ext. 225,
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b9e9fcfff6e6eaccc9dccbd0d7cddcd7dddcd7cdf9d7c9ca97ded6cf"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="89d9cccfc6d6dafcf9ecfbe0e7fdece7edece7fdc9e7f9faa7eee6ff">[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
Superintendent, PEFO, and additional information on the determinations
in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in
the summary or related records.
Abstract of Information Available
A total of 630 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The number of unassociated funerary objects are 376 mosaic pieces, two
worked shell pieces, one abalone shell pendant, two shell pendant
fragments, 10 bowls, 191 shell beads, one turquoise bead, one awl, one
jar, 40 pottery sherds, and five shell bracelet fragments. In 1953, the
items were removed from Site NA5065 in Apache County, AZ. The cultural
items were removed from three burials by Fred Wendorf, as part of his
doctoral research at Harvard University. Human remains were not removed
from these burials. The items are in the physical custody of the Museum
of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, AZ. Archeological site context and
types of funerary objects suggest that this site was occupied by
ancestral Puebloan peoples. Ethnographic and archeological evidence,
including burial orientation, body position, and the type and placement
of the funerary objects, indicates that the mortuary practices of these
ancestral Puebloan peoples correspond closely with those of the Hopi
Tribe of Arizona and the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico.
Determinations
PEFO has determined that:
<bullet> The 630 unassociated funerary objects described in this
notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with
or near individual human remains, and are connected, either at the time
of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native
American culture according to Native American traditional knowledge of
a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The
unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance
of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or
families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an
individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe
or Native Hawaiian organization.
<bullet> There is a reasonable connection between the cultural
items described in this notice and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and the
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
Requests for Repatriation
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified
in this notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be
submitted by 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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization.
Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to a requestor
may occur on or after May 2, 2025. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, PEFO must determine the most appropriate
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the
cultural items are considered a single request and not competing
requests. PEFO is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the
Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this
notice and to any other consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.
Dated: March 21, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-05613 Filed 4-1-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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