[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 19, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53602-53603]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-18487]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Portland District, Portland, OR and University of Oregon Museum of 
Natural and Cultural History, Eugene, OR

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 for which the University of Oregon Museum of Natural 
and Cultural History, Eugene, OR, and U.S. Department of Defense, Army 
Corps of Engineers, Portland District, Portland, OR, have joint 
responsibility. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from sites on Army Corps of Engineers land within the John Day 
Dam project area, Klickitat County, WA and Gilliam County, OR.
    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 
University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History and U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the 
Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon.

    Native American cultural items described in this notice were 
excavated under Antiquities Act permits by the University of Oregon, 
Eugene, OR, on Army Corps of Engineers project lands. Following 
excavations at the sites described below, and under the provisions of 
the permits, the University

[[Page 53603]]

of Oregon was allowed to retain the collections for preservation.
    In l959, human remains representing a minimum of eight individuals 
were removed from site 45-KL-18, also known as the Fountain Bar site, 
Klickitat County, WA, during an excavation by the University of Oregon 
prior to construction of the John Day Dam. No known individuals were 
identified. The 105 associated funerary objects are 1 net sinker, 3 
projectile points, 1 preform, 1 chopper, 1 flaked cobble, 1 burin, 5 
worked flakes, 5 uncategorized flakes, 3 pebbles, 1 worked antler, 3 
dentalia, 6 lots of dentalia (i.e. 4 dentalium vials, 2 boxes of 
dentalia), 6 shell beads, 1 strand of shell beads, 3 shell pendants, 1 
graphite pendant, 3 large disk beaks, 1 vial of large disk beads, 3 
small disk beads, 2 small disk bead strands, 33 glass beads, 10 
steatite beads, 1 large bead strand, 3 vials of large beads, 1 vial of 
small beads, 4 vials of assorted beads, 1 individual bead, and 1 vial 
of yellow ochre.
    Site 45-KL-18 extends from the mouth of Rock Creek for more than 
two miles eastward along the now-inundated, north side shoreline of the 
Columbia River. The site is described as a severely-looted, vandalized 
and eroded lithic scatter and cemetery. Although no dates of occupation 
were obtained by the researchers, the burials were characterized as 
prehistoric. Based on the associated funerary objects, the human 
remains have been determined to be Native American.
    In l959, human remains representing a minimum of six individuals 
were removed from the Harrison Site (35-GM-1), on the east bank of the 
John Day River at its confluence with the Columbia River, Gilliam 
County, OR, by University of Oregon in conjunction with studies 
undertaken prior to construction of the John Day Dam. No known 
individuals were identified. The 12 associated funerary objects are 5 
stone drills, 1 bolas stone, 2 flakes, 3 red ochre pieces, and 1 
soapstone item.
    The Harrison Site is described as a camp site with a burial area 
and petroglyphs. Prior to federal acquisition of this property, the 
original landowners excavated much of the site area. No dates of site 
occupation were obtained by the researchers. Based on the associated 
artifacts, the human remains have been determined to be Native 
American.
    The sites described above are within the traditional lands of the 
present-day Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of 
Oregon. The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of 
Oregon are composed of three Wasco bands, four Warm Springs bands, and 
Northern Paiutes. The Columbia River-based Wasco were the easternmost 
group of Chinookan-speaking Indians. The Sahaptin-speaking Warm Springs 
bands lived farther east along the Columbia River and its tributaries. 
Northern Paiutes, who spoke a Uto-Aztecan language, historically 
occupied much of southeastern Oregon.
    Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human 
remains described above represent the physical remains of at least 14 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, Portland District have also determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 117 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 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Portland District 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 Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Daniel Mulligan, NAGPRA Coordinator, 
Environmental Resources Branch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland 
District, P. O. Box 2946, Portland, OR 97208-2946, telephone (503) 808-
4768, before October 19, 2007. Repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm 
Springs Reservation of Oregon may proceed after this date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District is responsible 
for notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation 
of Oregon that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 30, 2007.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-18487 Filed 9-18-07; 8:45 am]
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