[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 952-953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00131]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037202; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Portland State University, 
Portland, 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), Portland State University (PSU) 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 Clark County, WA, and 
Columbia County, OR.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after February 7, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Reno Nims, Portland State University, Research & Graduate 
Studies, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97207, telephone (503) 725-6611, 
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 PSU. 
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 PSU.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from Lady Island (45-CL-48) in Clark County, WA, by Oregon 
Archaeological Society members. Radiocarbon dates from the site suggest 
these individuals may have been buried between 750 cal BCE and 200 cal 
CE. Unknown individuals donated the human remains to PSU at an unknown 
date between 1976 and 2011. The 27 associated funerary objects are one 
wood fragment, one faunal cranium, and 25 obsidian flakes.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 13 individuals were removed 
from the Herzog site (45-CL-11) in Clark County, WA, in 1965 by PSU 
under the direction of Thomas Newman, a faculty member in the 
Anthropology Department. The 20 associated funerary objects are two 
ceramic sherds, eight nails, three metal spoons, one lot of brick 
fragments, two lots of wood fragments, three rocks, and one fire-
cracked rock.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from the Meier site (35-CO-5) in Columbia County, OR, between 
1987 and 1991, by PSU under the direction of Ken Ames, a faculty member 
in the Anthropology Department. These human remains were inadvertently 
excavated from deposits of faunal remains, and subsequently identified 
as human between 1991 and 1992 during faunal sorting and analysis. 
Radiocarbon dates and fur trade items from the site suggest these 
individuals may have been buried between 1000 cal CE and the late 1700s 
CE. The 15 associated funerary objects are faunal remains.

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, 
geographical information, and historical information.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after

[[Page 953]]

consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, PSU has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 19 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 62 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 Siletz Indians of Oregon; 
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon; 
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; Confederated 
Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; and the Cowlitz 
Indian 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 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 and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after February 7, 2024. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, PSU 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. PSU 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: December 28, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-00131 Filed 1-5-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P