[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 87 (Thursday, May 7, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 21391]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-10543]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Chelan County Public Utility 
District, Wenatchee, 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 Chelan County Public Utility District, 
Wenatchee, 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 sites along 
the Rocky Reach Reservoir in Chelan and Douglas Counties, 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 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 1954, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from site 45CH53 in Chelan County, WA, by Richard 
Daugherty 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 individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    The human remains were in a cairn marked interment of a style 
common among late Prehistoric Period burials on the Columbia Plateau.
    In 1959, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from site 45DO59 in Douglas County, WA, by Alexander 
Gunkel during a site testing project at 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 
individual was identified. The 29 associated funerary objects are 1 
chipped stone drill, 1 scraper, 3 chipped stone tool tips, 14 olivella 
shell beads, 1 base of a chipped stone tool, 1 natural rock, 4 lots of 
flakes, 1 lot of wood fragments, 1 lot of faunal remains, 1 mussel 
shell pendant, and 1 lot of ochre.
    The determination of the cultural affiliation of the human remains 
is based upon geographical, archeological, oral tradition, and historic 
evidence. Projectile point types suggest an age ranging from the middle 
to late Prehistoric Period (about 6,000 years ago) to the Contact 
Period. The olivella shell beads, red ochre, and mussel shell pendant 
are funerary objects common in Prehistoric burials on the Columbia 
Plateau. The human remains and artifacts indicate that they are from 
the Native people who utilized the Columbia River during the late 
Prehistoric Period. Descendant communities from the Native people that 
jointly used the Columbia River are members of the Confederated Tribes 
of the Colville Reservation, Washington and Confederated Tribes and 
Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington.
    Officials of the Chelan County Public Utility District and 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 two individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Chelan County Public Utility District and 
Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University also have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 29 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 Chelan County 
Public Utility District and Museum of Anthropology at Washington State 
University 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 Mary Collins, Director of the Museum of 
Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4910, 
telephone (509) 335-4314, 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 Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University 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 9, 2009.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-10543 Filed 5-6-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S