Notice2026-03555
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Salt River Agricultural Improvement and Power District, Tempe, AZ
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
February 23, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and/or objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 35 (Monday, February 23, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 35 (Monday, February 23, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8513-8514]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03555]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6931; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042037; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Salt River Agricultural
Improvement and Power District, Tempe, AZ
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Salt River Project Agricultural
Improvement and Power District intends to repatriate certain cultural
items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects, sacred
objects, and/or objects of cultural patrimony and 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 March 25, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Marissa Sotomayor, Salt River Project
Agricultural Improvement and Power District, 1500 N Mill Avenue, Tempe,
AZ 85288, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9fd2feedf6ececfeb1ccf0ebf0f2fee6f0eddfecedeff1faebb1fcf0f2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a1ecc0d3c8d2d2c08ff2ced5ceccc0d8ced3e1d2d3d1cfc4d58fc2cecc">[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
Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, and
additional information on the determinations in this notice, including
the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or related
records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
A total of 231 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The 148 unassociated funerary objects are ceramic vessels, ceramic
effigies, shells, groundstone palettes, mortars, and censers, ceramic
and glass beads. The 80 sacred objects are stone hoes, picks, palettes,
censers, mortars, shat straighteners, metates, slate pendants, axes,
and shells. The three objects of cultural patrimony are a ceramic
vessel and two stone hoes.
Based on the information available, 226 of the cultural items were
removed from a site in Arizona, Maricopa County, by Audie Russell
Kelley (b. 1907 d. 1954); the date of removal is unknown. The
collection was previously in the possession of archaeologist Audie
Russell Kelley and was sold to the Salt River Project Agricultural
Improvement and Power District in 1973 by his wife, Peggy Kelley,
following his decease.
The other five cultural items were also removed from a site in
Arizona, Maricopa County, by Frank Midvale (b. 1903, d. 1971) and Omar
Turney (b. 1866, d. 1929); the date of removal is unknown. The
collection was previously in the possession of archaeologist Frank
Midvale and was sold to the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement
and Power District in the early 1970s by his family following his
decease.
The Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District
records indicate no known hazardous substances used to treat any of the
cultural items.
Determinations
The Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District
has determined that:
<bullet> The 148 unassociated funerary objects described in this
notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with
or near 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 the 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> The 80 sacred objects described in this notice are
specific ceremonial objects needed by a traditional Native American
religious leader for present-day adherents to practice traditional
Native American religion, according to the Native American traditional
knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization.
<bullet> The three objects of cultural patrimony described in this
notice have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance
central to the Native American group, including any constituent sub-
group (such as a band, clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other
subdivision), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of
an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
<bullet> There is a connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River
Indian Reservation, Arizona and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona.
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 March 25, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the Salt River Project Agricultural
Improvement and Power District 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. The Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power
District 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
[[Page 8514]]
U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.
Dated: February 13, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-03555 Filed 2-20-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on February 23, 2026.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.