[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44691-44692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-15324]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Northwest Christian College 
Museum, Kellenberger Library, Eugene, OR

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 in the possession of 
Northwest Christian College Museum, Kellenberger Library, Eugene, OR. 
The human remains were removed from San Juan County, WA.
    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 Native 
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
Northwest Christian College Museum, Kellenberger Library and State 
Museum of Anthropology, University of Oregon professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Lummi Tribe of the Lummi 
Reservation, Washington.
    In the early part of the 20th century, human remains representing a 
minimum of two individuals were removed from Lopez Island of the San 
Juan Islands, San Juan County, WA, by Theodore Leavitt. The human 
remains were donated by Mr. Leavitt sometime between 1922 and 1928 to 
the Eugene Bible University Museum (now the Northwest Christian College 
Museum, Kellenberger Library). According to the museum records one 
cranium was found by a tree on Lopez Island and the other cranium was 
located in Mud Bay on the beach of Lopez Island. No known individuals 
were identified. No associated funerary objects are present.

[[Page 44692]]

    Lopez Island, part of the San Juan Islands in San Juan County, is 
located in the Northern Straits area and was historically occupied by a 
number of Salish peoples speaking various dialects of the Northern 
Straits language (Suttles, 1990). The Salish people or ``tribes'' and 
those surrounding them in the Northern Straits area practiced 
artificial cranial reshaping in the pattern noted in the remains of the 
two individuals. Therefore, the cranial reshaping of the human remains 
is consistent with the origin of the skeletal material as listed in the 
museum records and supports a cultural affiliation of the material with 
the Salish peoples of the Northern Straits area. By the mid-19th 
century most of the Salish peoples of the Northern Straits area were 
sent to the Lummi Reservation in northwestern Washington (Suttles, 
1990).
    Lopez Island is within the ancestral and traditional lands of the 
Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation, Washington. Historical evidence, 
morphological characteristics, the presence of artificial cranial 
reshaping in the pattern typical for aboriginal Northwest Coast 
populations (fronto-occipital), and provenience information suggest 
that the human remains are Salish. Members of the Lummi Tribe of the 
Lummi Reservation, Washington are the present-day descendants of the 
Salish people of the Northern Straits area.
    Officials of the Northwest Christian College Museum, Kellenberger 
Library have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the 
human remains described above represent the physical remains of two 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Northwest 
Christian College Museum, Kellenberger Library 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 Native 
American human remains and the Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation, 
Washington.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Maureen 
Cole, Director, Northwest Christian College, 828 E. 11th Avenue, 
Eugene, OR 97401, telephone (541) 684-7237, before September 2, 2005. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Lummi Tribe of the Lummi 
Reservation, Washington may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    Northwest Christian College Museum, Kellenberger Library is 
responsible for notifying the Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation, 
Washington that this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 27, 2005
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 05-15324 Filed 8-2-05; 8:45 am]
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