[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48535-48536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-19935]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-10844; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Washington State Parks and 
Recreation Commission, Olympia, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has 
completed an inventory of human remains in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is no cultural 
affiliation between the remains and any present-day Indian tribe. 
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Washington 
State Parks and Recreation Commission. Disposition of the human remains 
to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional requestors 
come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the 
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission at the address below 
by September 13, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Alicia Woods, Washington State Parks and Recreation 
Commission, P.O. Box 42650, Olympia, WA 98504-2650, telephone (360) 
902-0939.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 in the 
possession of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and 
the Sacajawea State Park. The human remains were removed from an 
unknown location but are believed to have originated in the middle 
Columbia River region in Benton, Franklin, Grant, and Klickitat 
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) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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 
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the 
Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla 
Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama 
Nation, Washington; and the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho (previously listed 
as Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho) (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes''). 
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission also consulted with 
the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian group (hereafter 
referred to as ``The Indian Group'').

History and Description of the Remains

    Sometime between 1939 and 1976, human remains representing, at 
minimum, two individuals were acquired by the Sacajawea Museum at 
Sacajawea State Park, Pasco, WA. No donation or loan documentation has 
been located for the remains. Between 1976 and 2007, the remains were 
removed from the museum's storage and placed in an off-site facility 
near the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (hereafter 
State Parks) headquarters in Olympia, WA. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1939, the Sacajawea Museum at Sacajawea State Park in Pasco, WA, 
opened to exhibit items of Native American culture. The museum amassed 
an extensive collection of Native American cultural material collected 
by local farmers, families, and amateur archaeologists from the middle 
Columbia River region. Beginning in the 1950s, the State Parks 
partnered with local universities, the National Park Service, and local 
public utility districts to perform controlled excavations on park 
lands. The State Parks also borrowed objects from excavations outside 
park borders for the expressed purposes of interpretation at the 
museum.
    The first set of remains consists of a single human sacrum with an 
embedded projectile point. Based on examinations by anthropologists, 
the human remains are believed to be consistent with Native American 
archaeological material, but definitive cultural identification is not 
possible. The point was also examined and, while it is consistent with 
the lithic typology of the region, its placement in the sacrum is 
believed to be contrived.
    The second individual is comprised of a nearly complete set of 
human remains. Based on examination by an anthropologist, the human 
remains are consistent with Native American archaeological material and 
exhibit Native American cranial and dental morphological 
characteristics. Interviews with former park staff helped to narrow the 
acquisition of the remains by State Parks to between the late 1950s and 
1975. In order to determine possible provenience of this individual, 
the archaeological collections displayed adjacent to this individual 
were examined but yielded no additional information about the remains.

Determinations Made by the Washington State Parks and Recreation 
Commission

    Officials of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission 
have determined that:
     Based on cranial and dental morphology, it is believed 
that the human remains are Native American.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
     According to final judgments of the Indian Claims 
Commission, the land from which both sets of remains were likely 
removed is the aboriginal lands of The Tribes and The Indian Group.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains is to The Tribes and The Indian Group.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains or any other Indian tribe 
that believes it satisfies the criteria in 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1) should 
contact Alicia Woods, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 
P.O. Box 42650, Olympia, WA 98504-2650, telephone (360) 902-0939, 
before September 13, 2012. Disposition of the

[[Page 48536]]

human remains to The Tribes and The Indian Group may proceed after that 
date if no additional requestors come forward.
    The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is responsible 
for notifying The Tribes and The Indian Group that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: July 12, 2012.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-19935 Filed 8-13-12; 8:45 am]
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