[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68163-68164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-28521]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Whitman Mission National Historic Site, Walla 
Walla, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, Sec. 5, of 
the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of Whitman Mission National Historic Site, 
Walla Walla, WA. These human remains and cultural items were removed 
from a burial site at Whitman Mission National Historic Site.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003, Sec. 5 
(d)(3). The determinations within this notice are the sole 
responsibility of the National Park unit that has control of these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The 
Manager, National NAGPRA Program is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by National 
Park Service and Oregon State Museum of Anthropology professional staff 
in consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
    In July 1961, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from a burial at Whitman Mission National 
Historic Site in Walla Walla, Washington during legally authorized 
excavations by NPS archeologist Paul Schumacher. The human skeletal 
remains were removed from Whitman Mission and were delivered to the 
University of Oregon. In January 1962 David L. Cole completed a 
detailed description of the skeletal remains and identified them as 
representing a male Native American individual who had been 
approximately 45-55 years old at the time of death. The burial was 
characterized as a Christian burial in a coffin that dated to the early 
historic period (1830s) when the Whitmans operated a mission among the 
Cayuse. In preparation for repatriation the NPS took possession of this 
set of human remains in August 1996. No known individuals were 
identified. The 20 associated funerary objects are 6 fragments of wood 
from a coffin, 1 bag of wood particles, 8 corroded nails with some 
attached wood pieces, 1 copper brad, 2 bone buttons, 1 shell button and 
1 dentalia shell bead.
    Whitman Mission National Historic Site commemorates the history of 
a mission established by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman in the 1830s on 
land that was primarily occupied by Cayuse Indians at the time. The 
site of the mission settlement is widely recognized as having been part 
of a larger aboriginal Cayuse territory and is within the judicially 
established area that is officially recognized as the Cayuse homeland. 
Immediately to the west of the Cayuse territory was the aboriginal 
homeland of the Walla Walla tribe. To the west of the Cayuse and 
southwest of the Walla Walla was the recognized aboriginal homeland of 
the Umatilla tribe. The Cayuse, the Walla Walla and the Umatilla are 
all constituent tribes of the present-day Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
    Officials of Whitman Mission National Historic Site have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec. 2 (9-10), the human remains 
listed above represent the physical remains of one individual of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of Whitman Mission National Historic Site 
also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, Sec. 2 (3)(A), 
the 20 objects listed above are reasonably believed to have been placed 
with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as 
part of

[[Page 68164]]

the death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of Whitman Mission 
National Historic Site have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 
3001, Sec. 2 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that 
can be reasonably traced between these Native American human remains 
and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should contact Superintendent Francis T. Darby, 
Whitman Mission National Historic Site, 328 Whitman Mission Road, Walla 
Walla, Washington 99362-9699, telephone (509) 522-6360, before December 
9, 2002. Repatriation of these human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon 
may begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Whitman Mission National Historic Site is responsible for notifying 
the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: October 7, 2002.
Paula Molloy,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-28521 Filed 11-7-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S