[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 50 (Monday, March 16, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13611-13613]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-05997]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-17634; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, Yakima, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation), Columbia-Cascades Area Office, 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

[[Page 13612]]

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 Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office. 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 
Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office at the address in this 
notice by April 15, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Warren Hurley, Archeologist, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, 
Bureau of Reclamation, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, WA 98901-2052, 
telephone (509) 575-5848 ext. 320.

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 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, Yakima, WA, and in the 
physical custody of the University of Oregon Museum of Cultural and 
Natural History (formerly the Oregon State Museum of Anthropology 
(OSMA)). The human remains were removed from lands managed by 
Reclamation in Jackson County, OR.
    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 Reclamation, 
Columbia-Cascades Area Office and OSMA professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz 
Indians of Oregon (previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the 
Siletz Reservation) and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde 
Community of Oregon.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1958, fragmentary human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were recovered from site 35JA01 in Jackson County, OR. This 
discovery resulted from archeological investigations conducted by the 
University of Oregon's Department of Anthropology, under contract to 
the National Park Service and funded by the Bureau of Reclamation, in 
association with construction of Emigrant Dam and Reservoir. Site 
35JA01 is located on a broad alluvial terrace that extends northward 
from the east bank of the now inundated Emigrant Creek, approximately 
1.8 miles upstream (southeast of) from Emigrant Dam in Jackson County, 
OR. The site is situated on Federal lands under Reclamation's 
jurisdiction. The archeological site, described in 1958 as a ``camp 
site'' and on a 1970 site form as a ``midden,'' was subject to test 
excavations shortly after discovery. The human remains include two 
human bone fragments (identified as a condyle and part of the ascending 
ramus of the right side of a mandible, and a parietal fragment). Both 
human bone fragments were reported to be from an area of the site that 
had been disturbed by relic collectors, and both were described as 
being from an adult, although no mention is made of the minimum number 
of individuals represented by the remains. No known individuals were 
identified. The site was dated, based on the presence of the trade bead 
and temporally diagnostic projectile points, as late Archaic/Contact 
period (600-150 yr. BP).
    The recovered archeological materials, including the human remains, 
were sent to OSMA in Eugene, OR. During the years since recovery, the 
human remains from 35JA01 have remained in storage as components of 
Reclamation's archeological collection housed and maintained at OSMA. 
In 1995, while completing NAGPRA inventories, OSMA staff identified a 
third human bone--a lower lumbar vertebra fragment found in a bag of 
faunal bone--collected from site 35JA01 in 1958. The additional bone 
fragment was reported to Reclamation in 1996 and appended to the 
collection summary/artifact catalog that is maintained by both OSMA and 
Reclamation. No associated funerary items were identified from the 
materials recovered from site 35JA01.
    Association of the materials with a prehistoric archeological site 
indicates that the human remains described are Native American. The 
geographic location of the site is within the Bear Creek Valley, the 
southern arm of the larger Rogue River Valley of southwestern Oregon, 
and within the southwestern corner of the Northwest Coast Culture Area. 
Ethnographic and ethnohistoric evidence and archeological data indicate 
that site 35JA01 lies within an area occupied, at the time of contact, 
by the Bear Creek Shasta and Upland Takelma bands. Tribal/band members 
were removed from the Rogue River Valley to the Grand Ronde and Coast/
Siletz Indian Reservations beginning in 1855--not long after initial 
settlement of the Rogue River Valley by Anglo Americans.
    In 2010, Reclamation commissioned a study to determine the cultural 
affiliation of the heretofore unaffiliated remains. This study 
concluded that, based on the preponderance of the evidence, the human 
remains from site 35JA01 are most closely affiliated with the Bear 
Creek Shasta, a Native American group who resided in the southwest 
Oregon at and prior to Euro-American contact. Descendants of both 
Native American groups are legally represented by the Confederated 
Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon (previously listed as the 
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation) and the Confederated 
Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon.

Determinations Made by Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office

    Officials of Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of at least one 
individual 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 of Siletz Indians of 
Oregon (previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz 
Reservation) and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community 
of Oregon.

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 Warren 
Hurley, Archeologist, Columbia-Cascades Area Office, Bureau of 
Reclamation, 1917 Marsh Road, Yakima, WA 98901-2052, telephone (509) 
575-5848 ext. 320, by April 15, 2015. After that date, if no additional 
requestors have come

[[Page 13613]]

forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the Confederated 
Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon (previously listed as the 
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation) and the Confederated 
Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon may proceed.
    Reclamation, Columbia-Cascades Area Office is responsible for 
notifying the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon 
(previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz 
Reservation) and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community 
of Oregon that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 4, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-05997 Filed 3-13-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P