[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 3, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51511-51512]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20402]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Coulee 
Dam, 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 the Interior, National 
Park Service, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Coulee Dam, WA. 
The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from six 
archeological sites within the boundaries of Lake Roosevelt National 
Recreation Area, Ferry 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 
superintendent, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.
    On April 9, 1872, land on the east side of the Columbia River in 
Washington Territory was set aside as the Colville Reservation by 
Executive Order. On July 2, 1872, that land was restored to the public 
domain and land on the west side of the Columbia River was set aside as 
the Colville Reservation. On July 1, 1892, Congress restored the north 
half of the Colville Reservation to the public domain ,and reduced 
tribal lands through allotments to individual Indians under the Dawes 
Act of 1887. The two constituent tribes of the Confederated Tribes of 
the Colville Reservation that are traditionally associated with the 
area are the Colville and Lakes Tribes.
    Grand Coulee Dam, initiated by the Bureau of Reclamation in the 
1930s, was completed in 1941. Some of the lands inundated by the 
resulting reservoir had been previously reserved by either the 
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington or the 
Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington. In 1946, a Tri-
Party Agreement among the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park 
Service and the Office of Indian Affairs was developed to manage the 
Coulee Dam Recreation Area in three zones: Reclamation Zone, Recreation 
Zone, and Reservation Zone. The agreement gave the National Park 
Service control of land in the Recreation Zone for most purposes, 
including the management of archeological resources. In 1990, a five-
party Lake Roosevelt Cooperative Management Agreement was implemented 
that included the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, 
Washington and the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington 
as signatories. The National Park Service retained control of the 
Recreation Zone. The recreation area became Lake Roosevelt National 
Recreation Area in 1997.
    The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from 
six archeological sites on land reserved by the Confederated Tribes of 
the Colville Reservation, Washington until 1946. The sites were 
affected by the Bureau of Reclamation's operation of Grand Coulee Dam 
since the early 1940s, and are within the Recreation Zone managed by 
the National Park Service. Human remains and associated funerary 
objects from Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area were included in a 
Bureau of Reclamation-wide NAGPRA inventory in 1995, but in 2005, the 
Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service jointly determined 
that Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area has control of the NAGPRA 
collections and responsibility for compliance with NAGPRA.
    Dr. Roderick Sprague supervised the removal of most of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects during legally authorized 
excavations between 1965 and 1985. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were stored at Washington State University (WSU) until 
mid-1967, when they were moved to the Alfred W. Bowers Laboratory of 
Anthropology at the University of Idaho (UI). Some of the human remains 
were repatriated to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation 
in the late 1980s. The remaining human remains and associated funerary 
objects were moved to Washington State University in 1999 and 2000, and 
were accessioned by the National Park Service. The human remains and 
objects were transferred to the physical custody of the Confederated 
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington in 2006.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Bureau of 
Reclamation, and Washington State University professional staff, with 
assistance from a Central Washington University physical 
anthropologist, and in consultation with representatives of 
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington.
    In an unknown year, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed by unknown persons from the Kettle Falls 
Railroad Bridge Site (45-FE-38), a historic, early contact period site 
in Ferry County, WA. No known individual was identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    In 1965, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were removed from the Kettle Falls Railroad Bridge Site (45-FE-38) in 
Ferry County, WA. The excavations were initiated by Dr. Sprague in 
response to looting activity at the site. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Between 1967 and 1985, human remains representing a minimum of 26 
individuals were removed from the Freeland Site (45-FE-1) in Ferry 
County, WA. No known individuals were identified. The 402 associated 
funerary objects are 1 possible quartzite knife fragment or blank, 1 
iron bar, 1 piece of splintered and burnt wood, 1 copper or brass 
button, 1 pewter button, 2 quartzite knife fragments, 2 copper 
bracelets, 3 bone pendants, 3 pieces of fiber cordage, 3 gun flints, 4 
olivella shells, 19 shell disk beads with fiber cordage fragments, 54 
copper beads, 85 blue glass beads, and 222 dentalia shells.
    The Freeland site is a Native American burial ground dating to the 
early historic period, based upon the nature of associated funerary 
objects and the condition and preservation of the skeletal elements. 
The Colville and Lakes Tribes were decimated by smallpox soon after 
1800, and the Freeland site has been interpreted as an ``epidemic 
burial ground.''
    In 1972 and 1978, human remains representing a minimum of two 
individuals were removed from the Ksunku Site (45-FE-45) on the 
northern end of Hayes Island in Ferry County, WA. Stratigraphic 
evidence indicates that these remains date to approximately 2,500 years 
B.P. No known individuals were identified. The 34 associated funerary 
objects are 1 quartzite knife, 1 black argillite hammer fragment, 13 
pieces of non-human bone, and 19 lithic flakes.
    In 1974, human remains representing a minimum of 34 individuals 
were removed from the Sherman Creek Site (45-FE-51) in Ferry County, 
WA. Three human crania from this site were given to Lake Roosevelt 
National Recreation Area staff by an unidentified individual. The rest 
of the human remains were removed during authorized excavations by Dr. 
Roderick Sprague in an effort to protect them from vandalism and theft. 
The Sherman Creek site is a pit house

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village and extensive prehistoric cemetery exceeding 1,000 years in 
antiquity. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    In 1980, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed by the Ferry County sheriff from the Katy Creek Site (45-
FE-18), a late prehistoric site in Ferry County, WA. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In an unknown span of years, human remains representing a minimum 
of 23 individuals were removed by park visitors and staff from the 
surface of the Nancy Creek Site (45-FE-16), described as ``an 
aboriginal camp, burial, and historic site,'' in Ferry County, WA. No 
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    In 1985, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were removed from the Nancy Creek Site (45-FE-16), in Ferry County, WA. 
No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects 
are present.
    On the basis of the geographical location of the sites within the 
Plateau Culture Area, documented burial practices, osteological 
evidence as described by archeologists and physical anthropologists, 
and the nature of prehistoric and historic artifacts and archeological 
sites, the human remains described above are Native American. 
Archeological analysis of the sites, anthropological research, 
ethnohistorical studies, and tribal oral traditions demonstrate by a 
preponderance of the evidence that the Native American human remains 
and associated funerary objects represent Plateau Culture Area, 
Interior Salish speakers who have continuously occupied the Columbia 
River drainage for thousands of years. The six sites are within the 
judicially established aboriginal territory of the Confederated Tribes 
of the Colville Reservation, Washington. Members of the nearby Spokane 
Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington are also Interior Salish 
speakers, but their aboriginal territory is to the east, along the 
Spokane River and its tributaries.
    Officials of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of 93 individuals of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of Lake Roosevelt National 
Recreation Area also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(3)(A), the 436 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 
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area 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 
Colville 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 Deborah Bird, superintendent, Lake Roosevelt 
National Recreation Area, 1008 Crest Drive, Coulee Dam, WA 99116-0037, 
telephone (509) 633-9441, before October 3, 2008. Repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Confederated 
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area is responsible for 
notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, 
Washington that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 11, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-20402 Filed 9-2-08; 8:45 am]
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