Notice2026-11247
Notice of Intended Repatriation: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office, Santa Fe, NM, and U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Basin Region, Salt Lake City, UT
Primary source
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Published
June 4, 2026
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, Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office, (BLM), and U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Basin Region (Reclamation) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and 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 91 Issue 107 (Thursday, June 4, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 107 (Thursday, June 4, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33744-33745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-11247]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N7208; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042940; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Office, Santa Fe, NM, and
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado
Basin Region, Salt Lake City, UT
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, Bureau
of Land Management, New Mexico State Office, (BLM), and U.S. Department
of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Basin Region
(Reclamation) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet
the definition of unassociated funerary objects 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 July 6, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Sean Daugherty,
[[Page 33745]]
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Albuquerque
District Office, 100 Sun Ave. NE, Pan American Building, Suite 230,
Albuquerque, NM 87109, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a9dacdc8dccec1ccdbe9cbc5c487cec6df"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="582b3c392d3f303d2a183a3435763f372e">[email protected]</span></a> and Zachary Nelson, U.S.
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Basin
Region, 125 South State Street, Room 8100, Salt Lake City, UT 84138,
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ef4e0ebe2fde1e0cefbfdecfca0e9e1f8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9be1f5fef7e8f4f5dbeee8f9e9b5fcf4ed">[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
BLM and Reclamation, 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
The Upper Colorado River Storage Act of 1956 authorized
construction of the Navajo Dam and the creation of Navajo Reservoir on
the San Juan River in northwest New Mexico and Southwestern Colorado.
As a part of this act, the National Park Service, acting for the Bureau
of Reclamation, contracted the School of American Research and the
Museum of New Mexico to carry out salvage archaeology in the areas that
would be affected by the creation of the reservoir. Beginning in 1956,
field work began in 1956 on the Navajo Reservoir Project (Project
#48.01a) and continued through 1963.
A total of 11 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The 11 unassociated funerary objects are three lots of coprolites
(sites LA 3023, LA 4055, and LA 4411 in San Juan County, NM), seven
lots of botanical remains (sites LA 3398, LA 4411, and LA 114367 in Rio
Arriba County, NM, and LA 3432, LA 3491, LA 4055, LA 4065 from San Juan
County, NM) and one lot of ceramics (site LA 52255 in San Juan County,
NM) discovered along the reservoir in 1985. The cultural items were
removed from the Navajo Reservoir area of Rio Arriba and San Juan
counties, New Mexico, and are in the custody of the Museum of New
Mexico, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and
Arizona State University, School of Human Evolution and Social Change,
Tempe, Arizona. BLM and Reclamation acknowledge the deep and abiding
connection Indian Tribes have and their affiliation with the Ancestors
from the Navajo Reservoir area. This notice includes cultural items
dating from the Los Pinos Phase (A.D. 1-400), Sambrito Phase (A.D. 400-
700), Rosa Phase (A.D. 750-850), Piedra Phase (A.D. 800-1000), and/or
Arboles Phase (A.D. 950-1050).
Determinations
The BLM and Reclamation have determined that:
<bullet> The 11 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> There is a connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Jicarilla Apache Nation,
New Mexico; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico, & Utah; Ohkay Owingeh,
New Mexico; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico;
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of
Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New
Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New
Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New
Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New
Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico;
Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; Santo Domingo Pueblo; Southern Ute Indian
Tribe of the Southern Ute Reservation, Colorado; Ute Indian Tribe of
the Uintah & Ouray Reservation, Utah; Ute Mountain Ute Tribe; Ysleta
del Sur Pueblo; 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 July 6, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the BLM and Reclamation 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 BLM and Reclamation are 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: May 29, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-11247 Filed 6-3-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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