[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 177 (Tuesday, September 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55451-55452]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20650]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: American Museum of 
Natural History, New York, NY

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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the American Museum 
of Natural History, New York, NY, that meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary objects'' under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    The two cultural items are a partial stone pipe and the handle of a 
stone club. The partial pipe, which appears to be about half of the 
original object, is a sculpted tubular pipe made of steatite. The bowl 
of the pipe is carved with an anthropomorphic design. The club handle 
is made of stone and is carved with a zoomorphic design.
    In August 1902, W.F. Sonderman of Kennewick, WA, found the partial 
pipe in an ``Indian grave'' during the construction of an irrigation 
canal. The grave was located about 1/4 mile from the bank of the Yakima 
River at a point about 9 miles above its mouth. The museum acquired the 
pipe from Harlan I. Smith, who had purchased it from Mr. Sonderman. The 
museum accessioned the item in 1903.
    At an unknown date, D.W. Owens collected the stone club handle on 
Blalock Island, Benton County, WA, which he gifted to the museum in 
1905.
    The locale of the two unassociated funerary objects is consistent 
with the postcontact territory of the Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon. Mr. Sonderman indicated that the pipe was 
associated with glass beads, a metallic handle, and buttons, suggesting 
a postcontact date for the burial. The glass beads, metallic handle, 
and buttons were not part of the purchase made by Mr. Smith. According 
to experts of Plateau archeology, carved stone clubs have been found 
exclusively in burials on the Plateau. The Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon has indicated that Blalock Island contains 
Umatilla habitation sites and that this type of stone club is commonly 
found in burials and cremations along the Columbia River. It is 
documented that burials on Blalock Island date to the postcontact 
period, which suggests that the club handle is from the postcontact 
period or from a postcontact burial.
    Officials of the American Museum of Natural History have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the cultural items 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have 
been removed from a specific burial site of a Native American 
individual. Officials of the American Museum of Natural History also 
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 unassociated funerary objects and the Confederated Tribes 
of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact Nell Murphy, Director of Cultural Resources, American Museum of 
Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, 
telephone (212) 769-5837, before October 14, 2004. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.

[[Page 55452]]

    The American Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying 
the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: July 8, 2004.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 04-20650 Filed 9-13-04; 8:45 am]
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