[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 87 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21398-21399]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10538]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Spokane District Office, Spokane, WA and 
Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, 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, Bureau 
of Land Management, Spokane District Office, Spokane, WA, and in the 
physical custody of the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State 
University, Pullman, WA. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from a site along the Rocky Reach Reservoir, 
Chelan 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 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 professional 
staff at the Bureau of Land Management, Spokane District Office and the 
Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University in consultation 
with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville 
Reservation, Washington and Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama 
Nation, Washington.
    In 1982, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were removed from site 45CH254 in Chelan County, WA, by Randall Schalk 
and Robert Mierendorf during a survey of the Rocky Reach Dam Reservoir. 
The human remains have been in the possession of the Museum of 
Anthropology at Washington State University since that time. No known 
individuals were identified. The human remains were found mixed 
together in an eroding embankment. At the time of excavation, the 
remains of only one adult individual were identified. Museum 
documentation indicates that this individual was turned over to the 
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation on May 19, 1982. In 
2007, an inventory of the collections identified the remains of an 
infant and child, as well as elements from an adult, but it is 
uncertain whether they belong to the individual turned over to the 
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in 1982. The 109 
associated funerary objects are 5 bifaces, 4 lots of charcoal, 8 lots 
of fire modified rock, 34 lots of faunal remains, 16 lots of flakes, 1 
tip of a chipped stone tool, 15 retouched flakes, 1 lot of seeds, 4 
lots of natural rock, 1 hopper mortar base, 1 mano, 10 projectile 
points, 2 scrapers, 1 lot of red ochre, 5 lots of shell fish remains, 
and 1 incised bone object.
    The determination of the cultural affiliation of the human remains 
is based upon geographical, archeological, oral tradition, and historic 
evidence. Charcoal from site 45CH254 was radiocarbon dated to about 
1,200 years ago. The human remains and artifacts indicate that they are 
from the Native people who utilized the Columbia River during that time 
period. Direct

[[Page 21399]]

descendant communities from the Native people that jointly used the 
Columbia River 1,200 years ago are members of the Confederated Tribes 
of the Colville Reservation, Washington and Confederated Tribes and 
Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington.
    Officials of the Bureau of Land Management, Spokane District Office 
and the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of a minimum of three 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of 
Land Management, Spokane District Office and the Museum of Anthropology 
at Washington State University also have determined that, pursuant to 
25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 109 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 Bureau of Land Management, Spokane District 
Office 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 and Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, 
Washington.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Richard Bailey, District Archaeologist, Bureau 
of Land Management, Spokane District Office, 1103 N. Fancher Road, 
Spokane, WA 99212-1275, telephone (509) 536-1217, before June 8, 2009. 
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to 
the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington and 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Bureau of Land Management, Spokane District Office is 
responsible for notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Colville 
Reservation, Washington and Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama 
Nation, Washington that this notice has been published.

    Dated: April 3, 2009.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-10538 Filed 5-6-09; 8:45 am]
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