[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 77 (Friday, April 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 20329]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9753]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Agate Fossil Beds 
National Monument, Harrison, NE

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the 
Interior, National Park Service, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 
Harrison, NE.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2(c). The 
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
National Park Service unit that has control or possession of these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The 
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships is 
not responsible for the determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment and inventory of the human remains was made 
by National Park Service professional staff in consultation with the 
representatives of the Lower Elwha Tribal Community of the Lower Elwha 
Reservation, Washington.
    At some time before 1909, human remains representing one individual 
were discovered by former lighthouse keeper H. F. Argyle, near Rocky 
Point on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The human remains were 
subsequently acquired by J.E. Standley, a curio dealer in Seattle, WA, 
who sold them to James Cook of the Agate Springs Ranch, NE. The human 
remains consist of a single cranium. The flattened forehead is 
indicative of a particular type of cradle commonly used by tribes in 
the Pacific Northwest. Non-destructive analysis of the remains 
indicates that they are Native American, probably a male in his early 
50s. No individual was identified. A projectile point was inserted into 
a ``wound'' in the cranium, apparently post-mortem, and is not 
considered to be an associated funerary object.
    This skull was a prominent feature of James Cook's and his son's 
collection of Indian and fossil artifacts that they maintained at the 
Agate Springs Ranch until giving it to the National Park Service in 
1965. The skull was remembered by many ranch visitors, and was featured 
in an article in the November/December 1911 issue of Records of the 
Past.
    In 1995, based on documentary materials, Dr. Daniel L. Boxberger, 
professor of anthropology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, 
concluded that the skull was culturally affiliated with the localized 
Canadian group of the Klallam tribe (Beecher Bay Nation) that currently 
lives in the Rocky Point area of Vancouver Island. The Lower Elwha 
Tribal Community of the Lower Elwha Reservation, Washington has 
requested that the skull be repatriated to them on behalf of their 
relatives from Beecher Band Nation. Historically, there were no 
boundaries between Klallam people living in what are now the United 
States and Canada across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Many of the 
Beecher Bay members are very closely related to the Lower Elwha 
Community families, and they are culturally interconnected.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, the superintendent of 
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument has determined that, pursuant to 43 
CFR 10.2(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical 
remains of one individual of Native American ancestry. The 
superintendent of Agate Fossil Beds National Monument also has 
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2(e), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between these 
Native American human remains and the Lower Elwha Tribal Community of 
the Lower Elwha Reservation, Washington.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Lower Elwha Tribal 
Community of the Lower Elwha Reservation, Washington. Representatives 
of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally 
affiliated with these human remains should contact Superintendent 
Ruthann Knudson, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 301 River Road, 
Harrison, NE 69346-2734, telephone (308) 668-2211, fax (308) 668-2318, 
e-mail [email protected], no later than May 21, 2001. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Lower Elwha Tribal Community 
of the Lower Elwha Reservation, Washington may begin after that date if 
no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: March 22, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-9753 Filed 4-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F