[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]
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