[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 192 (Wednesday, October 2, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51462-51463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-25238]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item in the Possession 
of the City of Portland, OR

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given under the Native American Graves Protection 
and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3005 (a)(2), of the intent to 
repatriate a cultural item in the possession of the City of Portland, 
OR, which meets the definition of ``sacred object'' and ``object of 
cultural patrimony'' under Section 2 of the Act.
    A detailed assessment of the object was made by professional staff 
of the

[[Page 51463]]

office of the Mayor in consultation with Officials of the Confederated 
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Confederated Tribes of 
the Warm Springs Reservation. The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the 
Yakama Indian Nation of the Yakama Reservation declined to participate 
in the consultation.
    The object, know as the Wallula Stone, is an approximately ten ton 
basalt boulder measuring 48'' by 73'' by 83''. The boulder is covered 
with ancient petroglyphs. A bronze plaque on the upper face of the 
boulder reads: ``Transported and Presented by the O.W.R. & N. Co. to 
the Portland City Free Museum in 1910--C.F. Wiegand, Curator. Rock was 
found in 1910--20 feet south of U.P.R.R. Track Mile Post 205.16 in 
Washington.''
    In the spring of 1897, an engineering party discovered the boulder 
while working on the Oregon Railway and Navigation Railroad. The 
boulder was moved to the Portland city hall in 1910. A map from the 
files of the former Portland commissioner of public works identifies 
the original location of the boulder as about a mile north of the 
Oregon/Washington border, just southeast of the Columbia River. The 
geographic area in which the boulder was found was ceded to the United 
States by the Umatilla Indian tribe in 1855. The area has also been 
identified as part of the aboriginal territory of the Confederated 
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Confederated Tribes of 
Warm Springs v. United States (1966). In his book Indian Relics of the 
Pacific Northwest (2nd Edition, 1967), N.G. Seaman indicates that the 
boulder marked a spot far from the village where young men were sent to 
test their strength and courage. Traditional religious leaders from the 
Umatilla and Warm Springs indicate that the boulder originally 
identified a gathering place and sacred site and needs to be returned 
to the area where it can again be used for those purposes. These 
traditional religious leaders also indicate that the boulder was used 
by many members of their tribes and could not have been sold or given 
away by any single individual. As a product of the consultation the 
representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation concurred in repatriating the Wallula Stone to the 
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, officials of the City of 
Portland have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(C), this 
cultural item is a specific ceremonial object needed by traditional 
Native American religious leaders for the practice of traditional 
Native American religions by their present-day adherents. City 
officials have also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), 
this cultural item has ongoing historical, traditional, and cultural 
importance central to the culture itself, and could not have been 
alienated, appropriated, or conveyed by any individual. Finally, city 
officials have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there 
is a relationship of shared group identity which can be reasonably 
traced between the boulder and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla 
Indian Reservation and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Confederated Tribes 
of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Warm 
Springs Reservation, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the 
Yakama Indian Nation of the Yakama Reservation. Representatives of any 
other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated 
with this object should contact Michael Mills, Ombudsman, Mayor Katz's 
Office, Interim City Hall, 1400 SW Fifth Avenue, Room 501, Portland, 
Oregon, (503) 823-4120 before November 1, 1996 Repatriation of this 
object to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation 
may be finalized after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
Dated: September 27, 1996,
C. Timothy McKeown,
Acting, Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Acting Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 96-25238 Filed 10-1-96; 8:45 am]
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