[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11568-11569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4507]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of 
Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, Walla Walla, 
WA, and the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural 
History, Eugene, OR

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The United States Department of Defense, Army Corps of 
Engineers, Walla Walla District, in consultation with the appropriate 
Indian tribes, has determined that the items in this notice meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects and repatriation to the 
Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants come 
forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the cultural items may contact the U.S. 
Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact U.S. 
Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District at 
the address below by March 28, 2012.

ADDRESSES: LTC David Caldwell, U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps 
of Engineers, Walla Walla District, 201 North Third Ave., Walla Walla, 
WA 99362, telephone (509) 527-7700.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, 
Walla Walla District (Corps), Walla Walla, WA, and in the physical 
custody of the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural 
History (UO-MNCH), Eugene, OR, that meet the definition of unassociated 
funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    The unassociated funerary objects included in this notice were all 
removed from sites located within the McNary Lock and Dam Project on 
the Columbia River. The McNary Lock and Dam Project is managed by the 
Corps, who initiated land acquisition processes for the Project in 
1947.
    In 1948, the Smithsonian Institution's River Basin Survey Project 
(SRBS) removed human remains and funerary objects from site 45BN3, a 
pre-contact protohistoric village site located on Berrian's Island, in 
the Columbia River, in Benton County, WA. The recovered collections 
were transferred to three separate repositories: The Smithsonian 
Institution; the University of Washington (UW) Burke Museum, Seattle, 
WA; and UO-MNCH, Eugene, OR. The portion of the collections in the 
physical custody of UO-MNCH was re-inventoried in 1996, under a 
contract with the Corps. Unassociated funerary objects in the 
collection were recovered from Burials 4-5, 7-9, 11-15, 19, 22, 24-26, 
32, 34, 36-37, 39, 41, 43, 45-46, 48-49, and 51-54. The 189 
unassociated funerary objects are 1 abalone pendant, 3 antler digging 
stick handles, 1 antler wedge, 1 antler wedge fragment, 2 arrow-shaft 
smoothers, 1 arrow-shaft smoother fragment, 2 arrow-shaft 
straighteners, 2 bear canines (badly decayed), 1 bird bone fragment, 1 
bird effigy charm stone, 3 bivalves, 3 perforated bivalves, 1 broken 
chalcedony blade, 7 blue trade beads, 1 bone comb, 2 bone fragments, 1 
bone pin, 1 brass pendant, 2 carved bone fragments, 1 celt fragment, 1 
serpentine celt (unfinished), 1 chacedony drill, 2 choppers, 1 copper 
fragment, 1 copper pendant, 1 copper pendant fragment, 8 copper tube 
beads, 4 incised Dentalia shells, 3 Dentalia shells, 3 lots of Dentalia 
shells/fragments, 1 broken drill, 1 petrified wood drill (in 2 pieces), 
2 drilled bear claws, 1 eagle bone whistle, 2 flakes, 1 flesher, 9 
glass beads, 1 Glycymeris fragment, 1 graver or drill, 1 hook-shaped 
charmstone, 1 iron tinkler, 1 iron blade, 1 knife, 2

[[Page 11569]]

knife fragments, 1 crushed metal button, 1 shanked and drilled metal 
button, 2 Olivella shells, 1 Olivella shell fragment, 1 lot of Olivella 
shell beads, 6 lots of Olivella shells, 1 oval blade, 2 pendants, 2 
perforated shells, 1 pestle, 1 broken pestle (3 pieces, repaired), 1 
basalt pestle, 1 petrified wood knife, 1 pink chalcedony knife, 6 
projectile points, 1 point or blade, 1 point or drill, 1 broken 
obsidian projectile point, 1 chalcedony point, 1 petrified wood point, 
1 broken petrified wood point, 1 while flint point, 1 scoria file or 
whetstone, 10 scrapers, 1 brown agate scraper, 2 chalcedony scrapers, 1 
flint scraper, 13 shells, 2 shell beads, 2 lots of shell beads, 2 shell 
pendants, 1 silver pendant, 2 carved slate effigies, 2 carved slate 
effigies with ochre on surface, 1 incised slate effigy, 1 smooth burned 
stone, 7 smooth stones, 1 soapstone pipe bowl fragment, 2 soil samples, 
1 steatite pipe, 1 steatite spoon, 1 stone mallet/maul, 1 unidentified 
stone object, 1 serpentine stone pendant, 3 strings of juniper beads, 1 
string of Olivella shell and wooden beads, 1 drilled thimble, 1 tubular 
stone pipe, 1 lot of wooden beads, 1 worked bone or tube bead (burned), 
1 mammal incisor, 1 worked deer incisor, and 1 worked tooth or antler 
wedge (badly decayed).
    In 1947, the SRBS removed human remains and funerary objects from 
previously disturbed burials at 45BN45 (aka 45BN186), located on an 
island in the Columbia River, in Benton County, WA. The 1947 SRBS 
collection was transported to Fort Vancouver National Monument in 
Vancouver, WA. In 1960, a portion of the collection was transferred to 
and accessioned by UO-MNCH (OSMA accession <greek-i>102). The 
unassociated funerary objects were described as originating from the 
backdirt piles of one or more disturbed burials identified at the site. 
The ten unassociated funerary objects are 1 copper pendant, 3 metal 
fragments, and 6 glass beads. The site consisted of a village and 
burial site dating to the late pre-contact protohistoric period or 
earlier.
    In 1947, SRBS removed funerary objects from burials at 45FR28, on 
Borgan's Island, in Benton County, WA. At the time, 45FR28 was reported 
to contain extensively disturbed burials marked by cedar posts and 
located in the sand dunes on the southern end of the island. It is 
unclear whether or not human remains were collected during this survey. 
Materials from the 1947 SRBS investigations were transported to Fort 
Vancouver National Monument, in Vancouver, WA. In 1960, the collection 
was transferred to UO-MCNH (OSMA accession <greek-i>202). Funerary 
objects were reportedly removed from Burials 1 and 2. The 14 
unassociated funerary objects are 1 lot of clamshell disk beads, 1 lot 
of plant seed beads, 2 lots of Olivella shell beads, 1 lot of dentalium 
shells, 1 individual dentalium, 4 copper fragments, 1 projectile point 
fragment, 1 lot of hair, 1 lot of hair and fiber, and 1 iron spike. The 
site consisted of burials of the proto-historic to historic period 
date. The burial methods and artifacts are consistent with Plateau 
funerary practices during that era.
    Prior to 1950 or 1951, funerary objects were recovered on an island 
north of Hover, Benton County, WA, in direct association with a burial. 
The ``Island North of Hover'' funerary objects were donated by a 
private party to the UO-MNCH in 1950 or 1951. No human remains were 
donated. The collection was re-inventoried by UO-MNCH in 1996, under a 
contract with the Corps. The 57 unassociated funerary objects are 23 
decorated bird bones, 1 decorated animal bone, 4 grooved bones, 1 
slotted bone, 2 projectile points, 1 pipe, 5 shell beads, 2 stone 
beads, 4 shell pendants, 2 jasper pendants, 3 stone pendants, 1 
graphite pendant, 1 needle or awl, 5 elk incisors, 1 badger claw, and 1 
carnivore claw.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of 
Engineers, Walla Walla District

    Officials of the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of 
Engineers, Walla Walla District, have determined that:
    <bullet> Five lines of evidence--geographical, ethnographic, 
archeological, anthropological and historical--support a cultural 
affiliation between the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama 
Nation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, 
Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, 
Oregon; Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon; and 
the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho (hereinafter referred to as ``The Tribes'') 
and the unassociated funerary objects identified above. Additionally, a 
cultural relationship is determined to exist between the sites and 
collections and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian 
Group (hereinafter referred to as ``The Indian Group'').
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 270 cultural items 
described above 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from the specific burial sites of Native 
American individuals.
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects, The Tribes and The Indian Group. 
Information provided by The Tribes and The Indian Group shows that they 
are descended from the Native people who occupied these sites, and that 
the individuals buried along the Snake and mid-Columbia Rivers are 
their ancestors. The aforementioned tribes are all part of the more 
broadly defined Plateau cultural community having shared past and 
present traditional lifeways that binds them to common ancestors.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact LTC David Caldwell, U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of 
Engineers, Walla Walla District, 201 North Third Ave., Walla Walla, WA 
99362, telephone (509) 527-7700, before March 28, 2012. Repatriation of 
the unassociated funerary objects to The Tribes and (if joined) The 
Indian Group may proceed after that date if no additional claimants 
come forward.
    The U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla 
Walla District, is responsible for notifying The Tribes and The Indian 
Group that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 22, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-4507 Filed 2-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P