[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28066-28067]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11864]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: 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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate a cultural item in the possession of the Museum of 
Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA, that meets 
the definition of unassociated funerary object under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural 
item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    One lot of stone, bone, and glass beads was given to the Museum of 
Anthropology at Washington State University on an unknown date, but 
before 1995. The beads were glued to a piece of cardboard and labeled 
``Umatilla, Oregon.'' This reference is believed to be to the old town 
site of Umatilla, Umatilla County, OR, which was inundated by the 
reservoir behind John Day Dam. The Old Umatilla town site is also known 
as archeological site 35UM1. The site is considered to be a prehistoric 
and historic age Umatilla village that includes a cemetery that dates 
from approximately 500 B.C. to A.D. 1700. Multiple archeological 
excavations have been performed at site 35UM1, including the removal of 
over 230 human burials. In addition to archeological excavations, the 
Old Umatilla town site was the location of massive grave looting prior 
to inundation. The lot of beads is identical to the materials and style 
of manufacture of the funerary items associated with these burials. 
Therefore, officials of the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State 
University have determined that this lot of stone, bone, and glass 
beads is very likely to have been removed from an American Indian 
grave.
    The Old Umatilla town site lies within the traditional lands of the 
present-day Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, 
Oregon. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, 
Oregon, was established by Treaty in 1855 and consists of three tribes: 
Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla. Each of these tribes belong to the 
Sahaptin language group and historically their combined territories 
occupied over 6 million acres of land in southeastern Washington and 
northeastern Oregon. The Umatilla reservation and ceded lands roughly 
encompass the area bounded by the Columbia and Snake Rivers on the 
north, Willow Creek on the west and the Tucannon River on the east, and 
include the Old Umatilla town site location.
    Officials of the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State 
University have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), that the 
one lot described above is 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 and is believed, by a preponderance of 
the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a 
Native American individual. Officials of the Museum of

[[Page 28067]]

Anthropology at Washington State University also have determined, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), that there is a relationship of shared 
group identity that can be reasonably traced between the unassociated 
funerary object and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation, Oregon.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary object should 
contact Mary Collins, WSU Museum of Anthropology, P.O. Box 644910, 
Pullman, WA 99164, telephone (509) 335-4314, before June 13, 2011. 
Repatriation of the unassociated funerary object to the Confederated 
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon, 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 Umatilla 
Indian Reservation, Oregon, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 9, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-11864 Filed 5-12-11; 8:45 am]
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