[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 135 (Monday, July 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33777-33779]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-14932]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0028224; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Oregon State Parks and Recreation 
Department, Salem, OR and Oregon State University, NAGPRA Office, 
Corvallis, OR

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Oregon State University, Department of Anthropology and 
NAGPRA Office, and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) 
have completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations, and have 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

[[Page 33778]]

request to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. 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 Oregon Parks and Recreation Department 
(OPRD) at the address in this notice by August 14, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Nancy Nelson, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department 
Archaeologist, 725 Summer Street NE, Suite C, Salem, OR 97301, 
telephone (503) 986-0578.

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 Oregon Parks and 
Recreation Department, Salem, OR, and in the custody of the Oregon 
State University, NAGPRA Office, Corvallis, OR. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from Lane County and Lincoln 
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 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 was made by the Oregon 
State Parks and Recreation Department and Oregon State University, 
Department of Anthropology and NAGPRA Office 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).
    The Burns Paiute Tribe (previously listed as the Burns Paiute Tribe 
of the Burns Paiute Indian Colony of Oregon); Confederated Tribes of 
the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians; Confederated Tribes of the 
Grand Ronde Community of Oregon; 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; Coquille Indian Tribe (previously listed as the 
Coquille Tribe of Oregon); Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians 
(previously listed as the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon); 
and the Klamath Tribes (hereafter referred to as ``The Invited 
Tribes'') were invited to consult, but did not participate.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1977, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals 
were removed from Lane County, OR by Corvallis High School teacher Alan 
Taylor. Taylor was visiting Neptune State Park, and observed and 
removed a portion of a skull that was eroding out of a bluff just south 
of Bob Creek, Lane County, OR. He brought the human remains to Oregon 
State University's (OSU) anthropology department for analysis. Upon 
determining that the skull fragments were human, OSU received 
permission to salvage the rest of the human remains. No known 
individuals were identified. The seven associated funerary objects are 
one core, one blank, one biface and four utilized flakes.
    In 1974, human remains representing, at minimum, four individuals 
were removed from site 35LNC14 at Seal Rock, Lincoln County, OR. The 
human remains had been known from earlier excavations in 1968, 1972, 
and 1973. No known individuals were identified. The one associated 
funerary object is a bird bone whistle.
    In the 1970's, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from the Ona Beach area at Brian Booth State 
Park, Lincoln County, OR. Staff at the Oregon State Historic 
Preservation Office contacted the Anthropology Department, Oregon State 
University, and asked them to salvage human remains eroding out of the 
bank. There is no site number associated with the site. No known 
individuals were identified. The 33 associated funerary objects are 18 
complete blue glass beads, 12 fragmented blue glass beads, and three 
metal nail fragments.
    Linguistically, the earlier group at Bob Creek (35LA10), Seal Rock 
(35LNC14), and Brian Booth State Park were Yakonan/Alsean. Based on 
ethnographic information and consultation, the descendants of the 
Yakonan/Alsean speakers are members of The Confederated Tribes of 
Siletz Indians (CTSI). The CTSI is comprised of more than 30 Tribes and 
bands whose ancestral territory is from the lower Columbia River 
(including Chinookan territory on the north bank) to Upper Klamath, 
Shasta and Scott Rivers, and Smith River, Lake Earl and Crescent City 
areas of Northern California, including all the territory west of the 
summit of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon.
    The CTSI Tribes were forcibly removed from their homelands by the 
U.S. Government in 1855. Under the Western Oregon Termination Act 
(passed by Congress in 1954 and finalized in 1956), Western Oregon 
Tribes were further removed from their lands, and were expected to 
reside either on the Siletz Reservation or the Grand Ronde Reservation. 
By contrast, the principal villages of the central Oregon coast 
peoples, such as the Yaquina and Alsea, had been relocated to the 
Siletz Reservation when it was established in 1855, and have been 
associated with the Siletz Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of 
Siletz Indians ever since that time. (The CTSI were officially restored 
to recognized status in 1977.)

Determinations Made by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

    Officials of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of seven individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 41 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 
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon (previously listed as 
the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation).

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 Nancy Nelson, Oregon Parks and Recreation 
Department Archaeologist, 725 Summer Street NE,

[[Page 33779]]

Suite C, Salem, OR 97301, telephone (503) 986-0578, by August 14, 2019. 
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon 
(previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz 
Reservation) may proceed.
    The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for 
notifying the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon 
(previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz 
Reservation) and The Invited Tribes that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: June 14, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-14932 Filed 7-12-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P