[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50094-50095]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19993]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-13514; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Maxey Museum, Walla Walla, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Maxey Museum has completed an inventory of human remains 
in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation 
between the human remains and present-day Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any 
Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this 
notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains 
should submit a written request to the Maxey Museum. If no additional 
requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains to 
the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations 
stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to the Maxey 
Museum at the address in this notice by September 16, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Gary Rollefson, Maxey Museum, Whitman College, 345 Boyer 
Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, telephone (509) 527-4938, email 
[email protected].

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 under 
the control of the Maxey Museum, Walla Walla, WA. The human remains 
were removed from the Whitman College Biology Department, Walla Walla 
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.

[[Page 50095]]

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Maxey 
Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation; Confederated Tribes 
of the Colville Reservation; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation (previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon); Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon; Nez Perce Tribe (previously listed as Nez Perce 
Tribe of Idaho); and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized 
Indian group.

History and Description of the Remains

    From May 2010 through May 2013, during the course of renovations in 
the laboratory storage facility of the Biology Department at Whitman 
College, in Walla Walla County, WA, the Biology Department asked the 
Maxey Museum at Whitman College to determine whether any of the human 
remains in the Biology Department's laboratory specimen teaching 
collections were Native American. Some of the human remains have been 
in the Biology Department's teaching collections since 1928. Due to the 
extensive dissection of the remains, it is difficult to determine the 
exact number of individuals represented in the collection. Maxey Museum 
NAGPRA Coordinator and Professor of Archaeology Gary Rollefson reviewed 
the human remains and determined that some of them might be Native 
American. In consultation with tribal representatives, the Maxey Museum 
conducted analysis to determine which, if any, human remains were 
Native American, as well as the cultural affiliation of those human 
remains identified as Native American.
    The analysis resulted in a determination that the Biology 
Department's teaching collections included human remains representing, 
at minimum, 25 Native American individuals. The human remains were 
determined to be Native American through records kept upon their 
donation and by the nature of their antiquity. These Native American 
human remains were removed from the Biology Department and transferred 
to the Maxey Museum. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Many of the human remains have characteristics common to the 
Columbia River Plateau tribes, including occipital flattening, green 
residue staining from copper jewelry, and heavy tooth wear from eating 
foods that have been ground with stone tools or from eating foods that 
have been gritted with sand. Details about other characteristics can be 
found in reports dated May 2010, March 2013, and May 2013 on file at 
the Maxey Museum. Based upon the findings and characteristics described 
in these reports, the human remains have been determined to be 
culturally affiliated with the Columbia River Plateau tribes.
    The Columbia River Plateau tribes are the Native people that used 
the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers jointly. Treaties were negotiated 
and signed with the Native communities during the expansion of the 
Washington and Oregon territories. The Native peoples in these United 
States territories were removed from the shores of the Columbia and 
Snake Rivers and their tributaries to the Colville, Umatilla, Yakama, 
Warm Springs, and Nez Perce reservations. These actions resulted in the 
splintering of family groups and the subsequent intermarriage of 
individual families from these reservations which further strengthened 
existing cultural affiliation between the bands and tribes. Cultural 
affiliation is further reinforced by living, enrolled members that have 
documented their ancestors buried along the lower Snake and Columbia 
Rivers. Today, the Columbia River Plateau tribes are represented by the 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation; Confederated Tribes 
of the Colville Reservation; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation (previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon); Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon; Nez Perce Tribe (previously listed as Nez Perce 
Tribe of Idaho); and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized 
Indian group.

Determinations Made by the Museum

    Officials of the Maxey Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of a minimum of 25 
individuals of Native American ancestry.
     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 and Bands of the 
Yakama Nation; Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; 
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (previously 
listed as the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, Oregon); 
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; Nez 
Perce Tribe (previously listed as Nez Perce Tribe of Idaho); and the 
Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian group.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Gary 
Rollefson, Maxey Museum, Whitman College, 345 Boyer Avenue, Walla 
Walla, WA 99362, telephone (509) 527-4938, email [email protected] 
by September 16, 2013. After that date, if no additional requestors 
have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation; Confederated Tribes 
of the Colville Reservation; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation (previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon); Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon; Nez Perce Tribe (previously listed as Nez Perce 
Tribe of Idaho); and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized 
Indian group (if joined with one or more of these Indian tribes) may 
proceed.
    The Maxey Museum is responsible for notifying the Confederated 
Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation; Confederated Tribes of the 
Colville Reservation; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation (previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the 
Umatilla Reservation, Oregon); Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon; Nez Perce Tribe (previously listed as Nez Perce 
Tribe of Idaho); and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized 
Indian group, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 23, 2013.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2013-19993 Filed 8-15-13; 8:45 am]
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