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 BIA. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by the BIA.

Description

Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual, were removed from site NA5998 in Coconino County, AZ. Site NA5998 is located on the Hualapai Indian Reservation, 9.2 miles north of Frazier Wells. In 1957, a burial was excavated by the Museum of Northern Arizona during an authorized project to recover human remains exposed by road grading activity. The incomplete skeleton, which was found flexed on the left side and with the head oriented to the east, belongs to an adult female 35-45 years old. The 43 associated funerary objects are two chert scrapers, one jasper hammerstone/polishing stone, one obsidian scraper, and 39 ceramic sherds. The burial is associated with the Cohonina archeological complex and is dated between A.D. 900 and 1175.

Cultural Affiliation

The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: geographical, oral traditional, anthropological, and archeological.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the BIA has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
• The 43 objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
• There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Hualapai Indian Tribe of the Hualapai Indian Reservation, Arizona.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after May 4, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the BIA 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 BIA is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, and 10.14.

88 FR 19981