[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 197 (Thursday, October 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60191-60192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16923]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Energy, 
Richland Operations Office, Richland, WA and Thomas Burke Memorial 
Washington State 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 control of the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland 
Operations Office, Richland, WA, and in the physical custody of the 
Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum (Burke Museum), 
University of Washington, Seattle, WA. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from Benton 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 and associated funerary objects. The

[[Page 60192]]

National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this 
notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
Department of Energy and the Burke Museum professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes and Bands 
of the Yakama Nation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla 
Reservation, Oregon; and the Wanapum Band, a non-federally recognized 
Indian group.
    In 1981, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from an area within the Hanford site, Benton County, WA, 
by John A. Hedron. In 1985, the museum received the human remains and 
cultural items from Dr. Robert Rushmer on behalf of Mr. Hedron, and 
they were accessioned by the museum that same year (Burke Accn. 
 1985-106). No known individual was identified. The seven 
associated funerary objects are 1 piece of copper ore, 1 chopper, 1 
flaked stone tool, 1 core, 1 flake, and 2 mussel shell fragments.
    Museum documentation indicates that the associated funerary objects 
were recovered with fragmentary human remains, and the types of 
cultural items are consistent with other Native American funerary 
objects found in the Columbia River area. The human remains consist of 
nine fragments. The human remains were determined to be Native American 
based on the associated artifacts and geographic location. Ethnographic 
documentation indicates that the present day location of Hanford, WA, 
is located within an overlapping aboriginal territory of descendants of 
the Yakama, Walla Walla, and Wanapum groups, which are represented 
today by the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, 
Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon; 
and the Wanapum Band, a non-federally recognized Indian group.
    The Yakama Treaty, signed on June 9, 1855, included the Hanford 
area in the aboriginal territory of the present-day Confederated Tribes 
and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington. The Walla Walla people have 
also occupied this area since before historic times. As per the Treaty 
of Walla Walla, signed on June 9, 1855, the Walla Walla people are 
represented by the present-day Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla 
Reservation, Oregon. The Wanapum Band occupied the Hanford area, which 
is now designated the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Site, as 
recently as World War II, when they moved to the Priest Rapids area.
    Officials of the Department of Energy and 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 one individual of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the Department of Energy and the 
Burke Museum also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(3)(A), the seven objects described 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 Department of Energy and 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 Confederated 
Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington, and Confederated 
Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon. Furthermore, officials of 
the Department of Energy and the Burke Museum have determined that 
there is a cultural relationship between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects and the Wanapum Band, a non-federally 
recognized Indian group.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Annabelle Rodriguez, U.S. Department of Energy, 
Cultural/Historic Resources Program, Richland Operations Office, 825 
Jadwin Avenue, MSIN A5-15 Richland, WA 99352, (509) 372-0277, before 
November 13, 2006. Repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla 
Reservation, Oregon, and Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama 
Nation, Washington, for themselves and on behalf of the Wanapum Band, a 
non-federally recognized Indian group, may proceed after that date if 
no additional claimants come forward. The Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the 
Yakama Nation, Washington; and Wanapum Band, a non-federally recognized 
Indian group, are claiming jointly all cultural items from the Hanford 
area.
    The Department of Energy is responsible for notifying the 
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon; Confederated 
Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; and Wanapum Band, a 
non-federally recognized Indian group, that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: September 25, 2006
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-16923 Filed 10-11-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S