[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 20 (Monday, February 2, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 5854]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-2116]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Thomas Burke Memorial Washington 
State Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, WA and Northwest 
Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    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 in the control of the 
Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum (Burke Museum), 
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, and in the physical custody of 
the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Spokane, WA. The human 
remains were most likely removed from Grant County, WA.
    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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Burke Museum 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; and 
Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian group.
    Between 1939-1940, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from an unknown area most likely within Grant 
County, WA, by Warren T. Lee (Accn<greek-i>2008-184). Mr. Lee was an 
amateur archeologist working along the Columbia River, near Vantage, 
Grant County, WA, between 1938 and 1954. In 1950, the human remains 
were received by the Burke Museum. They were later mistakenly 
transferred to the Cheney Cowles Museum (now the Northwest Museum of 
Arts and Culture), as part of a return of a loan of human remains from 
the Collier, Hudson, and Ford collection. The Northwest Museum of Arts 
and Culture identified the human remains of this individual during 
their NAGPRA inventory. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Early and late published ethnographic documentation indicates that 
the Vantage area was the aboriginal territory of the Moses-Columbia or 
Sinkiuse, Yakima, and Wanapum (Daugherty 1973, Miller 1998, Mooney 
1896, Ray 1936, Spier 1936), whose descendents are represented today by 
the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; and 
Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian group.
    Officials of the Burke Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25 
U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of the Burke Museum have also determined that, 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 
the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; and 
Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian group. Furthermore, 
officials of the Burke Museum have determined there is a cultural 
relationship between the human remains and the Wanapum Band, a non-
Federally recognized Indian group.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Megon 
Noble, Burke Museum, University of Washington, Box 353010, Seattle, WA 
98195-3010, telephone (206) 685-3849, before March 4, 2009. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Confederated Tribes of the 
Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the 
Yakama Nation, Washington; and Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized 
Indian group, may proceed after that date if no additional claimants 
come forward.
    The Burke Museum is responsible for notifying the Confederated 
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes and 
Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; and Wanapum Band, a non-
Federally recognized Indian group, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 9, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-2116 Filed 1-30-09; 8:45 am]
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