[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 104 (Friday, May 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32410-32412]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-11561]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030209; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Connecticut State Museum of 
Natural History, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, University of 
Connecticut 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

[[Page 32411]]

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 the Connecticut State Museum 
of Natural History, University of Connecticut. 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 Connecticut State Museum of Natural 
History, University of Connecticut at the address in this notice by 
June 29, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Jacqueline Veninger-Robert, NAGPRA Coordinator, 
University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176, Storrs, CT 
06269-1176, telephone (860) 486-6953, 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 Connecticut State 
Museum of Natural History, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from the 
village and burial site of Khustenete, Curry 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 
Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, University of Connecticut 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon (previously listed as 
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation); Confederated Tribes of 
the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians; Confederated Tribes of the 
Grand Ronde Community of Oregon; Coquille Indian Tribe (previously 
listed as Coquille Tribe of Oregon); Elk Valley Rancheria, California; 
and the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation (previously listed as Smith River 
Rancheria, California)(hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted 
Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    From 1942-1955, human remains representing, at minimum, 11 
individuals were removed from Khustenete, an Athabaskan village and 
burial site in Curry County, OR (site 35CU157). Khustenete was 
excavated by physical anthropologist William S. Laughlin and 
avocational archeologist W.T. Edmundson. At the time of removal, the 
site was located within the private property of W.W. Ostrander. Today, 
it is within in the bounds of Samuel H. Broadman State Park.
    Laughlin was a professor in the anthropology department at the 
University of Connecticut (1969-1999). Earlier, he had served on the 
faculty of the University of Oregon (1949-1955) and the University of 
Wisconsin (1955-1969). Laughlin's correspondence and journals--archived 
at the University of Alaska and the University of Oregon--state that 
analysis of the Khustenete collection, which includes human remains and 
artifacts not under the control of the University of Connecticut, were 
examined at Harvard University (where Laughlin received his doctorate 
in 1949) and the University of Oregon. The 11 individuals and 
associated funerary objects in this notice were found in Laughlin's 
home following his death in 2001, and were donated to the Connecticut 
State Museum of Natural History, University of Connecticut in 2014 by 
Laughlin's family.
    Skeletal analysis of the human remains at the University of 
Connecticut was undertaken by Doug Owsley in 2015, during a visit to 
the University. Inventory numbers identifying the individuals are those 
assigned by Laughlin and Edmundson. Of the 11 individuals identified by 
Owsley, nine are thought to be female, one is male, and one is of 
undetermined sex. Age analysis suggests the human remains belong to one 
child, one adolescent, five young adults, one adult, two older adults, 
and one of undetermined age. Three of the individuals were conserved 
with funerary objects. The four associated funerary objects include one 
lot of pine nut shell beads, one shell, one bone tool, and one decayed 
wood fragment thought to be cedar wood planking that lined a grave.
    Khustenete was initially excavated in 1873 by Paul Schumacher, a 
member of the USGS survey of the northwest Pacific coast. Schumacher's 
description of the burials indicates that they were of post-contact 
date due to the presence of European trade goods. Conversely, Laughlin 
and Edmundson believed the burials they excavated date to the pre-
contact era, although they did not provide more detailed information 
regarding specific dates or archeological/cultural periods.
    While subsequent radiocarbon dating of the site has indicated a 
late prehistoric/historic period, 450 +/- 70 and 320 +/- 60 RYBP, the 
samples were taken from a disturbed context. Nonetheless, Khustenete 
probably was a multi-period occupation site.
    Khustenete was excavated intermittently on the property of W. W. 
Ostrander, from 1942 to 1955. During these excavations, a total of 37 
distinguishable burials--but probably more--were documented. Fifteen of 
those burials were of infants (most of the infant burials were not 
disinterred). Documentation of the burials and record keeping was not 
consistent.
    Sites along the coasts and river valleys of southwestern Oregon and 
northwestern California lie within the current and historically 
documented territory of the Athabaskan peoples of the Pacific Northwest 
(Neilson 1927; Berreman 1937; Swanton 1952). Historical documents, 
treaties, geopolitical distribution, geographical location, 
archeological, anthropological, and biological data, oral histories, 
and linguistics show that the Khustenete site is ancestral to the 
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon (previously listed as 
Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation); Elk Valley Rancheria, 
California; and the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation (previously listed as Smith 
River Rancheria, California).

Determinations Made by the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, 
University of Connecticut

    Officials of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, 
University of Connecticut have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 11 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the four 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

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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 Confederated 
Tribes of the Siletz Reservation); Elk Valley Rancheria, California; 
and the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation (previously listed as Smith River 
Rancheria, California)(hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').

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 Dr. Jacqueline Veninger-Robert, NAGPRA 
Coordinator, University of Connecticut, 354 Mansfield Road, Unit 1176, 
Storrs, CT 06269-1176, telephone (860) 486-6953, email 
[email protected], by June 29, 2020. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to The Tribes may 
proceed.
    The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, University of 
Connecticut is responsible for notifying The Consulted Tribes that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: April 20, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-11561 Filed 5-28-20; 8:45 am]
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