[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 106 (Monday, June 5, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25809-25810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-11540]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-23294; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation 
(Reclamation), Mid-Pacific Regional Office, has completed an inventory 
of human remains and associated funerary objects, 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 associated funerary objects 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 and associated funerary objects should submit a written request 
to Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office. If no additional 
requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects 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 and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, at the address in this 
notice by July 5, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Melanie Ryan, NAGPRA Specialist/Physical Anthropologist, 
Mid-Pacific Regional Office, Bureau of Reclamation, MP-153, 2800 
Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825, telephone (916) 978-5526, 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 and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, 
Sacramento, CA. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from lands managed by Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, 
in Modoc County, CA.
    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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Klamath 
Tribes. The Klamath Tribes represent Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Band 
of Snake Peoples.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1945, human remains representing, at minimum two individuals 
were removed from the Tule Lake Internment Camp site (CA-MOD-NL4) in 
Modoc County, CA, by Marvin Kaufmann Opler and donated to the 
University of California, Berkeley. Opler was an anthropologist, social 
psychologist, and community analyst who arrived at Tule Lake Internment 
Camp in May 1943. The human remains were found during the excavation of 
an irrigation ditch at the camp. No further details about the 
excavation or the archeological context of the human remains was 
recorded. The human remains were curated at the Phoebe Hearst Museum of 
Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, CA.
    Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, became aware of these 
human remains on August 27, 2015, when an inquiry was made by the 
Klamath Tribes to Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional

[[Page 25810]]

Office, regarding human remains and one funerary object from site CA-
MOD-NL4. The human remains were confirmed to be under Reclamation, Mid-
Pacific Regional Office, control on November 30, 2015, and the Phoebe 
Hearst Museum transferred the human remains and funerary objects to 
Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, on December 22, 2015.
    The human remains consist of one nearly complete adult female, 
approximately 30-40 years old and a few ribs and thoracic vertebra of 
one adult, age and sex indeterminate. No known individuals were 
identified. The two associated funerary objects are one bone tube and 
one bag of associated soil.
    In consultation with the Klamath Tribes, Reclamation, Mid-Pacific 
Regional Office, determined a close affiliation with the Modoc, a 
Native American tribe who resided in northeast California and southeast 
Oregon during, and prior to, Euro-American contact. There is nothing 
temporally diagnostic available to directly indicate the antiquity of 
this collection. The Tule Lake Internment Center is located in the 
ancestral homelands of the Modoc Indians. Modoc territory extended 
across both sides of what is now the California-Oregon border 
immediately east of the Cascades. North and west of Modoc territory was 
the territory of the Klamath, who spoke a dialect of the same language. 
The western shore of Goose Lake was shared by the Modoc and the 
Yahooskin Paiute whose territory was to the east. The Klamath, Modoc, 
and Yahooskin band of Snake (Northern Paiute) Indians ceded lands in 
south-central Oregon to the United States under terms of the Klamath 
Treaty of 1864. By the terms of the treaty, all three Indian groups, 
who are now collectively known as the Klamath Tribes, retained a 
considerable portion of the Klamath homeland as a reservation.
    The amount of wear on the dentition and the association of a bone 
tube indicates that the human remains are Native American. The 
associated bone tube was identified through consultation as part of a 
Modoc bone whistle. The Klamath Tribes presented an ancient Modoc bone 
whistle of the same form and construction as CA-MOD-NL4 bone tube.
    On June 30, 1924, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from the Snake Island, Tule Lake site (CA-MOD-
NL2) in Modoc County, CA, by Mr. Paul Fair of the U.S. Forest Service. 
Mr. Fair donated the items to the University of California, Berkeley, 
where they were curated by the Phoebe Hearst Museum. The one associated 
funerary object is ``some bits of cordage.''
    On December 8, 2015, the Klamath Tribes inquired about the human 
remains and associated funerary object from site CA-MOD-NL2. At that 
time, the human remains, consisting of a skull, had been misplaced by 
the museum and had not appeared on their annual inventory since the 
1980s. The absence of the human remains prevented the identification of 
the human remains as Native American. On December 11, 2015, the 
associated funerary object was confirmed to be under the control of the 
Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office. The Phoebe Hearst Museum 
transferred it to Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, on March 
28, 2016.
    Snake Island is located on the Bureau of Reclamation-withdrawn 
lands that were under control of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional 
Office, in 1924. During consultation with the Klamath Tribes, Snake 
Island was identified to be the center of the Modoc world in a place 
referred to in their creation narrative. The Klamath Tribes provided 
examples of creation stories that identify Snake Island as an 
extraordinarily sacred location for Klamath and Modoc peoples. The 
first stitch of the matting/cordage was recognized by the Klamath 
Tribes as unique to the Modoc. During consultation, the Klamath Tribes 
provided several examples of Modoc woven items that were made using the 
same technique. This weaving technique is described in numerous 
ethnographies.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office

    Officials of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, have 
determined that:
     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(3)(A), the three objects 
described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed 
with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as 
part of the death rite or ceremony.
     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 associated funerary objects and the Klamath 
Tribes and The Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma.

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 and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Melanie Ryan, NAGPRA Specialist/Physical 
Anthropologist, Mid-Pacific Regional Office, Bureau of Reclamation, MP-
153, 2800 Cottage Way, Sacramento, CA 95825, telephone (916) 978-5526, 
email [email protected], by July 5, 2017. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Klamath Tribes and 
The Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma may proceed.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-
Pacific Regional Office, is responsible for notifying the Klamath 
Tribes and The Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: April 21, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-11540 Filed 6-2-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P