[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35909-35910]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11696]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035945; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, 
Vancouver, WA

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 U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (FOVA) has 
completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects 
and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the 
human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from Walla Walla County, WA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after July 3, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Tracy Fortmann, Superintendent, Fort Vancouver National 
Historic Site, 800 Hathaway Road, Building 722, telephone (360) 816-
6205, 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 
Superintendent, FOVA. Additional information on the determinations in 
this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the 
inventory or related records held by FOVA.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from Walla Walla County, WA, by the Smithsonian Institution's River 
Basin Surveys in 1947, during the construction of the nearby McNary Dam 
and Lake Wallula Reservoir. National Park Service archeologists 
participated in this project. The human remains were removed from the 
site of Wal[uacute]ula, the largest village of the Wal[uacute]ulapam 
Sahaptin group and were housed at the Burke Museum until their transfer 
to FOVA in 1995. The 56 associated funerary objects are two nails, four 
bone beads, nine dentalium shells, one clothing rivet, two buttons, two 
tobacco pipe stems, two spurs, two shoe tacks, one bullet, six bottle 
fragments, one safety pin, one thimble fragment, seven ceramic 
tablewares, two lamp base glass fragments, one yellow metal loop 
eyelet, one yellow metal strap fragment, two yellow metal fragments, 
four lithic debitage, two uniface lithic flakes, one biface tool, one 
projectile point, one Intermountain or Shoshone pottery, and one bag of 
glass beads.

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: anthropological information, archeological information, 
historical information, oral tradition, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, FOVA has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     The 56 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.
     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 Nez Perce Tribe.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects 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 identified in this notice 
and, if joined to a request from one or more of

[[Page 35910]]

the Indian Tribes, the Wanapum Band of Priest Rapids, a non-federally 
recognized Indian group.
    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 and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after July 3, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, FOVA 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. FOVA is 
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and 
Native Hawaiian organizations 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 24, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-11696 Filed 5-31-23; 8:45 am]
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