[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 95 (Thursday, May 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27845-27846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9455]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Anthropology, 
Washington State University, Pullman, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with provisions of 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 possession of the Museum of Anthropology, 
Washington State University, Pullman, WA. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from Grays Harbor 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 National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Museum 
of Anthropology, Washington State University professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the 
Chehalis Reservation, Washington.
    In 1969 and 1970, human remains representing a minimum of nine 
individuals were removed from the Minard site (45-GH-15) in Grays 
Harbor County, WA, by Richard Daugherty, an employee, and Thomas E. 
Roll, graduate student, of Washington State University. The excavations 
were conducted under research funds allocated by the Washington State 
Legislature. No known individuals were identified. The 82 associated 
funerary objects are 2 nipple topped mauls, 1 ground slate knife, 1 
ground stone club, 1 necklace of rolled copper and dentalium beads, 1 
straight adze with a carved whale bone handle, 1 knife or small adze-
chisel, 1 metal chisel, 1 metal awl, 1 lot of metal fragments from wood 
working tools, 5 lots of nails, 2 lots of glass beads, 2 lots of tin 
can fragments, 5 lots of unidentified metal fragments, 2 spoons, 3 lots 
of wood fragments, 14 thimbles on a string, 1 lot of unidentified plant 
material, and 38 lots of dishes and dish fragments.

    Osteological evidence indicates that the human remains from the 
Minard site represent nine individuals of Native American ancestry. The 
associated funerary objects found with one of the individuals indicate 
an interment during the early 19th century. Stratigraphic information 
indicates that the other individuals were interred within the last 
1,000 years. The Minard site is located at or near the traditional 
Copalis village of Oyhut. The Copalis are considered to have been a 
band of the Lower Chehalis whose traditional territory encompassed the 
lower reaches of the Chehalis River and the present-day county of Grays 
Harbor. The Minard site is located within the area identified by the 
Indian Claims Commission as the aboriginal territory of the 
Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington. 
Continuities within the archeological record and oral tradition, 
indicates that ancestors of the present-day Confederated Tribes of the 
Chehalis Reservation, Washington resided at the Minard site during the 
prehistoric and early historic periods.
    Officials of the Museum of Anthropology, Washington State 
University have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the 
human remains described above

[[Page 27846]]

represent the physical remains of nine individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Museum of Anthropology, Washington State 
University also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(3)(A), the 82 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 Museum of Anthropology, Washington State University 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 of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Mary Collins, Associate Director, Museum of 
Anthropology, Washington State University, P.O. Box 62291, Pullman, WA 
99164-4910, telephone (509) 335-4314, before June 18, 2007. 
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to 
the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Museum of Anthropology, Washington State University is 
responsible for notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis 
Reservation, Washington that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 15, 2007.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-9455 Filed 5-16-07; 8:45 am]
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