[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 129 (Thursday, July 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38415-38416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10524]


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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 approximately 183 cultural items include carved sticks and 
figures, wood dishes, pendants, spoons, coins, buttons, and beads.
    In 1882, Mr. James Terry, collected 28 cultural items from ``Tum-
wa-ta, Memaluse Rock, Columbia River, Oregon.'' The 28 cultural items 
are 1 carved stick, 1 stick with holes, 2 dancing sticks, 2 carved 
figures, 4 wood dishes, 1 bone pendant, 2 bone spoons, 3 horn spoons, 3 
copper beads, 1 horn truss, 1 whip handle, 3 wood tubes, 1 bear claw, 1 
basket, and 2 pendants. The museum acquired the cultural items from Mr. 
Terry in 1891 when the museum purchased his entire collection of more 
than 26,000 items. The museum accessioned the items between 1891 and 
1893.
    Mr. Terry's ``Memaluse Rock'' is likely to be one of two Memaloose 
Islands located near present-day The Dalles, OR. The two dancing sticks 
are carved with anthropomorphic figures. The two carved figures are 
also anthropomorphic; one figure is holding a shield and both figures 
have inlaid shell eyes. The dancing sticks and carved figures are 
approximately 30 centimeters in length and 7 centimeters wide.
    At an unknown date, A.W. Robinson collected two cultural items from 
Memaloose Island, OR. The two cultural items are one iron bracelet and 
one copper ceremonial object. Morris Jesup, President of the American 
Museum of Natural History, purchased part of Mr. Robinson's collection 
and gifted it to the museum in 1902.
    At an unknown date, Dr. Simms collected two brass bells, probably 
from Memaloose Island, OR. The museum received the bells as a gift and 
accessioned them in 1903.
    Historically, the Memaloose Islands were used by the local Upper 
Chinook and Sahaptin inhabitants to bury their dead, usually in above-
ground charnel houses. The Upper Chinook and Sahaptin people of the 
Middle Columbia region are ancestors of members of the Confederated 
Tribes and

[[Page 38416]]

Bands of the Yakama Reservation, Washington and Confederated Tribes of 
the Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon.
    In 1882, Mr. Terry collected at least 151 cultural items from 
``Chenoworth Rock, Columbia River, Washington.'' The cultural items are 
1 carved board, and at least 150 coins, buttons, and glass beads. The 
museum acquired the cultural items from Mr. Terry in 1891 when the 
museum purchased his collection. The museum accessioned the items 
between 1891 and 1893.
    Mr. Terry indicated that the coins, buttons, and glass beads were 
collected from a ``Burial on Chenoworth Rock'' and that the carved 
board was from a ``Dead House on Chenoworth Rock.'' Mr. Terry also 
indicated that Chenoworth Rock is near the ''. . . mouth of the Little 
White Salmon River,'' which is approximately 10 miles west of The 
Dalles, OR. The board is rectangular, carved with an anthropomorphic 
figure and measures 181 centimeters long by 57 centimeters wide. The 
coins date to the early and mid 1800s, and the buttons and glass beads 
indicate a postcontact date for the burial.
    The locale of the unassociated funerary objects is consistent with 
the postcontact territory of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the 
Yakama Reservation, Washington and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm 
Springs Reservation, Oregon.
    Officials of the American Museum of Natural History have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the approximately 183 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 and Bands of the Yakama Reservation, Washington and Confederated 
Tribes of the Warm Springs 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 August 7, 2006. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Confederated Tribes and Bands of 
the Yakama Reservation, Washington and Confederated Tribes of the Warm 
Springs Reservation, Oregon may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The American Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying 
the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Reservation, Washington 
and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 15, 2006.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-10524 Filed 7-5-06; 8:45 am]
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