[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15802-15803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6322]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Central Washington University 
Department of Anthropology, Ellensburg, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Central Washington University Department of Anthropology 
has completed an inventory of human remains in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribe, and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and a present-day Indian tribe. 
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Central 
Washington University Department of Anthropology. Repatriation of the 
human remains to the Indian tribe stated below may occur if no 
additional claimants come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Central 
Washington University Department of Anthropology at the address below 
by April 16, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Lourdes Henebry-DeLeon, Central Washington University 
Department of Anthropology, 400 E. University Drive, Ellensburg, WA 
98926-7544, telephone (509) 963-2671.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby 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 the Central Washington University Department of 
Anthropology, Ellensburg, WA. The human remains were removed from Grays 
Harbor 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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Central 
Washington University Department of Anthropology professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the 
Chehalis Reservation, Washington.

History and Description of the Remains

    In November 1947, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from site 45-GH-15 (Minard) in Grays Harbor 
County, WA, by archeologist Richard Daugherty of the University of 
Washington during his systematic archeological survey of the Washington 
coast. Richard Daugherty noted that the property owner had 
inadvertently uncovered at least 27 human skeletons while plowing his 
fields. According to the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum 
(Burke Museum) accession ledger, Daugherty collected two femora and one 
humerus. The collection was formally accessioned by the Burke Museum in 
1947 (Burke Accn. 3583). In 1974, the Burke Museum legally 
transferred the right humerus and left femur to Central Washington 
University Department of Anthropology (CWU ID BA).
    The bones were examined by physical anthropologist Lourdes Henebry-
DeLeon of Central Washington University, and the skeletal remains, 
which consist of a humerus and femur, cannot be used to establish 
conclusively cultural affiliation. However, the human remains have 
markings of 19-15(1) (right humerus) and 19-15(2) (left femur) written 
on them indicating the collecting location. Burke Museum records show 
19-15 is the catalog number associated with site 45-GH-15. Based on the 
markings on the remains, the records at the Burke Museum and Richard 
Daugherty's survey records it is reasonably believed that these remains 
are from site 45-GH-15. There have been other Notices of Inventory 
Completion (NICs) published in the Federal Register for site 45-GH-15 
(72 FR 27845-27846, May 17, 2007, and 73 FR 49484-49485, August 21, 
2008). The materials reported in the earlier NICs were culturally 
affiliated with the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, 
Washington. Based on archeological context and the platymeric femoral 
morphology, the individual has been determined to be Native American. 
No known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Site 45-GH-15 is located at or near the traditional Copalis village 
of Oyhut. The Copalis are considered to have been a band of the Lower 
Chehalis whose traditional territory encompassed the lower reaches of 
the Chehalis River and the present-day county of Grays Harbor, WA. The 
site is located within the area

[[Page 15803]]

identified by the Indian Claims Commission as the aboriginal territory 
of the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington. 
Continuities within the archeological record and oral tradition 
indicate that ancestors of the present day Confederated Tribes of the 
Chehalis Reservation, Washington, resided at the site.

Determinations Made by the Central Washington University Department of 
Anthropology

    Officials of Central Washington University Department of 
Anthropology have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry, based on the archeological context.
     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 Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis 
Reservation, Washington.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Lourdes 
Henebry-DeLeon, Central Washington University Department of 
Anthropology, 400 E. University Drive, Ellensburg, WA 98926-7544, 
telephone (509) 963-2671, before April 16, 2012. Repatriation of the 
human remains to Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, 
Washington, may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The Central Washington University Department of Anthropology is 
responsible for notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis 
Reservation, Washington, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 12, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-6322 Filed 3-15-12; 8:45 am]
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