[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 85 (Friday, May 2, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23491-23492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-10918]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Burke Museum, University of 
Washington, Seattle, 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, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the Burke Museum, University of 
Washington, Seattle, WA. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from the Fort Rock Valley area, Lake County, OR.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of 
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The 
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within 
this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Burke 
Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Burns Paiute Tribe of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon, 
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, Klamath 
Indian Tribe of Oregon, and Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma.
    Between 1971 and 1972, human remains representing a minimum of one 
adult individual were removed by Dr. Harold G. Bergen from a site in 
Lake

[[Page 23492]]

County, OR, designated by Dr. Bergen as 35Q. The human remains were 
held by Dr. Bergen until 1989 when they were accessioned by the Burke 
Museum (Accession no. 1989-57). No known individual was identified. 
According to Dr. Bergen's field notes, animal bones were uncovered with 
these human remains, but the animal bones were not accessioned. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1972, human remains representing a minimum of two individuals, 
an adult and a juvenile, were removed from a site in Lake County, OR, 
near the Fort Rock Valley area. This site was designated by Dr. Bergen 
as 35A. The human remains were held by Dr. Bergen until 1989 when they 
were accessioned by the Burke Museum (Accession no. 1989-57). No known 
individuals were identified. The one associated funerary object is an 
obsidian knife.
    In 1973, human remains representing one individual were removed 
from a site in Lake County, OR, near the Fort Rock Valley area, 
designated by Dr. Bergen as site 35R. The human remains were held by 
Dr. Bergen until 1989 when they were accessioned by the Burke Museum 
(Accession no. 1989-57). No known individual was identified. The two 
associated funerary objects are artiodactyl femur fragments.
    According to John R. Swanton's 1968 book ``The Indian Tribes of 
North America,'' the Walpapi and Yahuskin bands inhabited the shores of 
Goose, Silver, Warner, and Harney Lakes, OR, and in the ``Smithsonian 
Handbook of North American Indians,'' the Yahuskin band is noted as an 
aboriginal inhabitant of the Fort Rock Valley area. The Fort Rock 
Valley area is within the boundaries of lands ceded by the Klamath and 
Modoc Tribes and the Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians by the terms of 
the ``Treaty of Klamath Lake, Oregon with the Klamath, Modoc, and 
Yahooskin Band of Snake, October 14, 1864.'' These ceded lands became 
part of the Klamath Reservation, where, according to Robert Ruby and 
John Brown in ``A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific 
Northwest,'' the Walpapi began to settle between 1867 and 1870.
    Based on geographical information provided by tribal 
representatives during consultation, the archeological provenience of 
the human remains, ethnohistorical data, and the continuity of 
technology of material culture found with the human remains, museum 
officials have determined that the human remains and associated 
funerary objects are culturally affiliated with the Walpapi Band and 
the Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians, which are today represented by the 
Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon.
    Officials of the Burke Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent the 
physical remains of four individuals of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of the Burke Museum also have determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the three 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 the death rite or ceremony. 
Lastly, officials of the Burke Museum have determined that, pursuant to 
25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity 
that can be reasonably traced between the Native American human remains 
and associated funerary objects and the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Dr. Peter Lape, Curator of Archaeology, Burke 
Museum, Box 353010, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, 
telephone (206) 685-2282, before June 2, 2003. Repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Klamath Indian 
Tribe of Oregon may proceed after that date if no additional claimants 
come forward.
    The Burke Museum is responsible for notifying Burns Paiute Tribe of 
the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon, Confederated Tribes of the 
Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon, and 
Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 9, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-10918 Filed 5-1-03; 8:45 am]
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