[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 22 (Thursday, February 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5683-5684]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1380]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Horner Collection, Oregon State 
University, Corvallis, 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 the 
Horner Collection, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR. The human 
remains were removed from an island in the Columbia River, near the 
border between Oregon and Washington.
    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 Horner 
Collection, Oregon State University professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon. The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama 
Indian Nation, Washington, were advised of the human remains, but did 
not participate in consultation.
    Some time between 1925 and 1927, human remains representing a 
minimum of one individual was removed from ``Memaloose Island, Columbia 
River.'' It is unclear from museum records whether the human remains 
came from Upper Memaloose Island, Klickatat County, WA, or Lower 
Memaloose Island, Wasco County, OR. On June 16, 1936, Keith Chamberlain 
loaned one cranium (skull without the lower jaw), to the John B. Horner 
Museum of the Oregon Country, Oregon Agricultural College. The Oregon 
Agricultural College was renamed the Oregon State College in 1937, and

[[Page 5684]]

became Oregon State University in 1962. In 1975, Keith Chamberlain 
gifted the cranium to the John B. Horner Museum of the Oregon Country. 
The Horner Museum closed in 1995. Currently, cultural items from the 
Horner Museum are referred to as the Horner Collection, which is owned 
by, and in the possession of, Oregon State University. It is unknown 
whether the human remains were removed by Mr. Chamberlain. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    The human remains have been identified as Native American based on 
the presence of cranial deformation and museum records that identify 
the human remains as a ``flathead skull'', cranial deformation is 
consistent with practices of the Chinook-speaking groups and, to a 
lesser degree, by the Sahaptin-speaking groups. The Memaloose Islands 
were used during the post-contact period by local Native American 
peoples for the burial of their dead. The Memaloose Islands are within 
the traditional territory of Chinook- and Sahaptin-speaking Indian 
groups represented today by the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the 
Yakama Indian Nation, Washington, and the Confederated Tribes of the 
Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. The Confederated Tribes of the Warm 
Springs Reservation of Oregon has submitted a claim for the human 
remains.
    Officials of the Horner Collection, Oregon State University have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the Horner Collection, Oregon 
State University have also 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 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Indian Nation, Washington, 
and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Sabah 
Randhawa, Executive Vice President and Provost, President's Office, 
Oregon State University, 600 Kerr Administration Building, Corvallis, 
OR 97331, telephone (541) 737-8260, before March 6, 2006. Repatriation 
of the human remains to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The Horner Collection, Oregon State University is responsible for 
notifying the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, 
Washington, and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of 
Oregon that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 20, 2006.
C. Timothy McKeown,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-1380 Filed 2-1-06; 8:45 am]
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