[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 250 (Tuesday, December 30, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79904-79905]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30893]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Klamath County Museums, Klamath 
Falls, OR

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 possession of 
Klamath County Museums, Klamath Falls, OR. The human remains were 
removed from Siskiyou County, CA.
    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

[[Page 79905]]

Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Klamath 
County Museums' professional staff with the assistance of Paleo-
osteologist Dr. Eric P. Gustafson, in consultation with representatives 
of the Alturas Indian Rancheria, California; Burns Paiute Tribe; 
Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of 
Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon; 
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, Oregon; Confederated 
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes 
of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; Coquille Tribe of Oregon; 
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon; Fort Bidwell Indian 
Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation of California; Fort McDermitt 
Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, 
Nevada and Oregon; Hoopa Valley Tribe, California; Karuk Tribe of 
California; Klamath Tribes, Oregon; Lovelock Paiute Tribe of the 
Lovelock Indian Colony, Nevada; Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma; Paiute-
Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony, Nevada; Pit River 
Tribe, California; Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe of the Pyramid Lake 
Reservation, Nevada; Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Nevada; Resighini 
Rancheria, California; Summit Lake Paiute Tribe of Nevada; Winnemucca 
Indian Colony of Nevada; and Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation, 
California.
    In the summer of 1957, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from an archeological site near Mount Dome, 
Siskiyou County, CA, during excavations by Klamath County Museums 
staff. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    Klamath County Museums' professional staff estimated the human 
remains to be approximately 500 years old based on the other materials 
collected from the site. Archeological material collected, but 
determined not to be associated funerary objects, such as obsidian 
points, mortar and pestle fragments, obsidian and chert chips, 
projectile points, bone awls, beads, and stone knives, show a 
continuity in culture to the Klamath or Modoc people. Furthermore, the 
site near the Mount Dome area is located within the ancestral lands of 
the Klamath/Modoc people.
    The Klamath Tribes, Oregon and Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma have a 
shared ancestry. Following the conclusion of the Modoc wars, the Modoc 
people were relocated to Oklahoma. In 1888, the Modoc reservation was 
established in Oklahoma. In 1909, permission was granted to the Modoc 
to return to Oregon. Those who returned became part of the Klamath 
Tribes, Oregon. The present-day descendants of the Klamath or Modoc 
people are members of the present-day Klamath Tribes, Oregon and Modoc 
Tribe of Oklahoma.
    Officials of the Klamath County Museums have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Klamath County Museums 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 Klamath Tribes, Oregon and Modoc Tribe 
of Oklahoma.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Todd 
Kepple, Manager, Klamath County Museums, 1451 Main Street, Klamath 
Falls, OR 97601, telephone (541) 883-4208, before January 29, 2009. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Klamath Tribes, Oregon and/or 
Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    Klamath County Museums is responsible for notifying the Alturas 
Indian Rancheria, California; Burns Paiute Tribe; Confederated Tribes 
of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon; Confederated 
Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon; Confederated Tribes of 
the Siletz Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla 
Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon; Coquille Tribe of Oregon; Cow Creek Band of 
Umpqua Indians of Oregon; Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort 
Bidwell Reservation of California; Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone 
Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada and Oregon; 
Hoopa Valley Tribe, California; Karuk Tribe of California; Klamath 
Tribes, Oregon; Lovelock Paiute Tribe of the Lovelock Indian Colony, 
Nevada; Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma; Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon 
Reservation and Colony, Nevada; Pit River Tribe, California; Pyramid 
Lake Paiute Tribe of the Pyramid Lake Reservation, Nevada; Reno-Sparks 
Indian Colony, Nevada; Resighini Rancheria, California; Summit Lake 
Paiute Tribe of Nevada; Winnemucca Indian Colony of Nevada; and Yurok 
Tribe of the Yurok Reservation, California that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: November 14, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-30893 Filed 12-29-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S