[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 177 (Thursday, September 13, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 52388]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-18105]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Cincinnati Museum 
Center, Cincinnati, OH

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 Cincinnati Museum 
Center, Cincinnati, OH 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.
    In 1964, the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, now part of the 
Cincinnati Museum Center, purchased three cultural items from Traders 
Exchange in Champaign, IL. The three items are one string of 23 rolled 
copper beads (CMC A14673); one string of 58 small rolled 
copper beads (CMC A14674); and one rolled copper bead 
(A14675).
    The cultural items are catalogued as ``originally excavated from 
Cayuse Indian graves near old Fort Walla Walla in the state of 
Washington.'' Old Fort Walla Walla was originally a Northwest Company 
trading post called Fort Nez Perces. It was along the banks of the 
Columbia River north of the mouth of the Walla Walla River in 
southeastern Washington around 1818 and was the site of the first 
Treaty Council in 1855. Based on museum records, the three cultural 
items are reasonably believed to be unassociated funerary objects. 
There is no information to indicate when or under what circumstances 
Traders Exchange acquired the cultural items, but it is known that a 
series of looting[sol]excavation activities took place at old Fort 
Walla Walla from the 1880s through at least the 1950s.
    Geographic, historic, and ethnological evidence indicate that 
Cayuse Indians occupied or utilized the area near Fort Walla Walla in 
historic times, and most likely for a considerably longer period before 
historic times. Geographically, the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla 
traditionally covered a large percentage of eastern Oregon and 
southeastern Washington. The Cayuse or Waiilatpus, occupied the slopes 
of the Umatilla, Walla Walla, John Day, Upper Grande Ronde, Powder, and 
Burnt River drainages, as well as the Willow Creek branch of the 
Malheur River. There is a preponderance of evidence that a cultural 
continuity exists between the tribes known today as Cayuse, Umatilla, 
and Walla Walla and the occupants of the Fort Walla Walla area prior to 
contact. Descendants of the Cayuse are members of the Confederated 
Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
    Officials of the Cincinnati Museum Center have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the three cultural items 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 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 Cincinnati Museum Center 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 
of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact Jane MacKnight, Registrar, Cincinnati Museum Center, 1301 
Western Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45203, telephone (513) 287-7092, before 
October 15, 2007. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to 
the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Cincinnati Museum Center is responsible for notifying Confederated 
Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: August 20, 2007
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-18105 Filed 9-12-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S