[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
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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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