[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 210 (Wednesday, October 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64368-64369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-25765]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and Northwest Museum of Arts 
& Culture, Spokane, 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 in the control of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, 
and in the possession of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture, 
Spokane, WA. The human remains were removed from the Spokane Indian 
Reservation which is predominantly situated in Stevens County, WA, with 
an exception of a small plot of land and a section of the Spokane River 
that are located in Lincoln 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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture professional staff, on behalf of the 
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, in 
consultation with representatives of the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane 
Reservation, Washington.
    Around the early 1900s, human remains representing a minimum of two 
individuals were removed from an unknown location on the Spokane Indian 
Reservation in Stevens County, WA, probably by Mr. Daniel Dwight, a 
well-known collector of Spokane Indian relics. The human remains were 
in Mr. Dwight's possession until his passing in 1982 when many of the 
Indian artifacts he amassed over the years were donated to the Museum 
of Native American Culture, Spokane, WA (Accn. Number 1982.37). The 
Dwight Collection was stored by the Museum of Native American Culture 
until the museum's closure in 1991. Subsequently, the majority of the 
Museum of Native American Culture's collections was taken over by the 
Cheney Cowles Museum, later named the Northwest

[[Page 64369]]

Museum of Arts & Culture. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Based on museum records, as well as consultation with the late 
Robert Sherwood, a cultural representative of the Spokane Tribe, the 
human remains were most likely removed during the early 1900s from the 
Spokane Reservation. The human remains include two human skulls and 
mandibles. Though un-numbered, these human remains are reasonable 
believed to be a part of a group of bones listed in the Daniel Dwight 
donation of 1982. The collection records include crania metatarsal, and 
vertebra bone fragments, and are consistent with the inventory of human 
remains listed above.
    Based on provenience, museum records, consultation, and the donor's 
collection history, the officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and 
Northwest Museum of Arts & Cultural reasonably believe that the human 
remains are culturally affiliated with the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane 
Reservation, Washington.
    Officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Northwest Museum of 
Arts & Culture have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), 
the human remains described above represent the physical remains of two 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs and Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture 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 Native American human remains and the Spokane Tribe of the 
Spokane Reservation, Washington.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Mr. 
Michael Holloman, Museum of Arts & Culture, 2316 West First Avenue, 
Spokane, WA 99201-5906, telephone (509) 363-5337, before November 28, 
2008 Repatriation of the human remains to the Spokane Tribe of the 
Spokane Reservation, Washington may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture is responsible for notifying 
the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: October 1, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-25765 Filed 10-28-08; 8:45 am]
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