[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 96 (Thursday, May 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31816-31817]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10555]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035860; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Columbia Gorge Discovery Center 
and Museum, The Dalles, OR

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and 
Museum has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined 
that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and 
Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The 
human remains were removed from an unknown burial site on the banks of 
the Columbia River (between Washington and Oregon) of the Columbia 
River Plateau and Klickitat County, WA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after June 20, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Susan Buce, Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum, 5000 
Discovery Drive, The Dalles, OR 97058, telephone (541) 296-8600 Ext. 
242, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum. The National Park Service 
is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional 
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results 
of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held 
by the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
at an unknown time from a burial site located along the banks or 
islands of the Columbia River near The Dalles, in Wasco County, OR, and 
Wishram, in Klickitat County, WA, by James Gosson. In 2003, Gosson 
donated these human remains to the Museum. The human remains belong to 
an adult of unknown sex. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from private property in White Salmon, Klickitat County, WA by Allen B. 
Clarke. Clarke found these human remains while digging out his 
basement. Following his death, the human remains were donated to the 
Museum in 2013 by his wife, Rosalie Clarke. The human remains belong to 
an adult male. No known individual was identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Native American People from both sides of the Columbia River 
utilized the islands on the Columbia River that border the present-day 
states of Oregon and Washington, in the north central Columbia River 
Plateau region, for burial. Early and late published ethnographic 
documentation indicates that this area was the aboriginal territory of 
the Western Columbia River Sahaptins, Wasco, Wishram, Yakima, Walla 
Walla, Umatilla, Tenino, and Skin (Daugherty 1973, Hale 1841, Hunn and 
French 1998, Stern 1998, French and French 1998, Mooney 1896, Murdock 
1938, Ray 1936 and 1974, Spier 1936).

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, 
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity 
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures 
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: geographical and historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after

[[Page 31817]]

consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Confederated Tribes and Bands 
of the Yakama Nation; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation; and the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains in this 
notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after June 20, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation 
are received, the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum must 
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum is responsible 
for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in 
this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: May 10, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-10555 Filed 5-17-23; 8:45 am]
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