[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 197 (Thursday, October 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61782-61783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25046]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11269; 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 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 Washington 
State Parks and Recreation Commission. 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 
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission at the address below 
by November 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. The 
human remains were removed from three different locations in Pacific 
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 state 
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 Washington 
State Parks and Recreation Commission professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the 
Shoalwater Bay Reservation, Washington, and the Chinook Nation, 
Washington (a non-Federally recognized Indian group). The Confederated 
Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington, were contacted by mail 
and telephone but declined formal consultation unless neither of the 
aforementioned groups made a claim.

History and Description of the Remains

    Sometime prior to 1958, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from a house in the town of Ilwaco, in Pacific 
County, WA. The human remains consist of a partial cranium. The Ralph 
Wilson family discovered the remains under their house and donated them 
to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, at Fort 
Columbia State Park. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Sometime prior to 1958, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from an unknown site located in the town of 
Ilwaco, in Pacific County, WA. The human remains consist of a mandible 
and mandibular dentition. Dr. W. Iles discovered the remains and 
donated them to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, 
at Fort Columbia State Park. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Sometime prior to 2001, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from a site believed to be located in or near 
Fort Columbia, in Pacific County, WA. The human remains consist of one 
nearly complete cranium. As the remains were located in the Fort 
Columbia State Park collections and were undocumented, they are 
believed to have originated either from Fort Columbia or from one of 
three nearby sites. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Following examination by a physical anthropologist, the human 
remains described above were determined to be consistent with Native 
American heritage based cranial and dental morphological 
characteristics. All of the remains were removed from locations near 
Fort Columbia State Park, in Chinook, Pacific County, WA. Fort Columbia 
was built as a U.S. military installation at Chinook Point beginning in 
1896, was completed in 1904, and became a state park in 1950. During 
its construction, an undocumented number of Native American burials 
were discovered. Since that time, additional burials have been located 
in documented sites surrounding the park boundaries.
    Fort Columbia State Park is located on the north bank of the 
Columbia River, along the eastern leg of Baker Bay, east of Chinook 
Point and at the base of Scarborough Hill. The lands around Baker Bay 
and along Chinook Point were the aboriginal lands of the lower-river 
Chinook Indians. Scarborough Hill, along with Chinook Point, has 
figured prominently in lower-river Chinook Indian legends and served as 
one of many burial grounds in the area for the Indians. Early explorers 
Captain Robert Gray (1792), Captain George Vancouver (1792), and 
Captains Meriwether Lewis and James Clark (1805) documented the lower-
river Chinookan Indians, including their traditional habitation of the 
north bank of the Columbia River during spring and summer months. 
Throughout the next two centuries, additional documentation of the 
lower-river Chinook people was produced by explorers, pioneers, 
anthropologists, and visitors to the region. Based on the location of 
the remains, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has 
determined that the Chinook Indians, a non-Federally recognized Indian 
group, maintains the closest cultural and ancestral connection to these 
By the end of the nineteenth century, lower-river Chinook society had 
been all but decimated, and by 1900, some of the remaining Chinook 
Indians merged with Indians to their north, in the Shoalwater Bay 
region (now named Willapa Bay). Based on this history, the Washington 
State Parks and Recreation Commission has determined that the 
Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Reservation, Washington, is 
the Indian tribe having the closest shared group identity with the 
human remains.

Determinations Made by the Washington State Parks and Recreation 
Commission

    Officials of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission 
have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of three individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group

[[Page 61783]]

identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and the Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay 
Reservation.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Alicia 
Woods, Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, P.O. Box 
42650, Olympia, WA 98504-2650, telephone (360) 902-0939, before 
November 13, 2012. Repatriation of the human remains jointly to the 
Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Reservation, Washington, and 
the Chinook Nation, a non-Federally recognized Indian group, may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is responsible 
for notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, 
Washington; the Shoalwater Bay Tribe of the Shoalwater Bay Reservation, 
Washington; and the Chinook Nation, a non-Federally recognized Indian 
group, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 12, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-25046 Filed 10-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P