13622 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / Notices 

hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a 

day, 7 days a week to leave a message 

or question with the above individual. 

You will receive a reply during normal 

business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 15- 

member council advises the Secretary of 

the Interior through the BLM on a 

variety of planning and management 

issues associated with public land 

management in Montana. At these 

meetings, topics will include: Miles City 

and Billings Field Office manager 

updates, subcommittee briefings, work 

sessions and other issues that the 

council may raise. All meetings are 

open to the public and the public may 

present written comments to the 

council. Each formal RAC meeting will 

also have time allocated for hearing 

public comments. Depending on the 

number of persons wishing to comment 

and time available, the time for 

individual oral comments may be 

limited. Individuals who plan to attend 

and need special assistance, such as 

sign language interpretation, tour 

transportation or other reasonable 

accommodations should contact the 

BLM as provided above. 

Dated: February 28, 2012. 

M. Elaine Raper, 

Eastern Montana—Dakotas District Manager. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5492 Filed 3–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–DN–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[2253–665] 

Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural 

Items: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Office of Law Enforcement, Lakewood, 

CO 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Office of Law Enforcement, in 

consultation with the appropriate 

Indian tribe, has determined that the 

cultural items listed below meet the 

definition of sacred objects and 

repatriation to the Indian tribe 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. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of 

Law Enforcement. 

DATES: Representatives of any Indian 

tribe that believes it has a cultural 

affiliation with the cultural items 

should contact the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, Office of Law 

Enforcement, at the address below by 

April 6, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Special Agent in Charge, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of 

Law Enforcement, 134 Union Blvd., 

Room 550, Lakewood, CO 80228, 

telephone (303) 236–7540. 

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 two 

cultural items in the possession of the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of 

Law Enforcement, that meet the 

definition of sacred 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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Office of Law Enforcement. The 

National Park Service is not responsible 

for the determinations in this notice. 

History and Description of the Cultural 

Items 

These items came into the possession 

and control of the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (USFWS), Office of 

Law Enforcement, pursuant to a 

criminal investigation. The items were 

forfeited to the U.S. Government by the 

U.S. Customs Service in separate 

forfeiture actions in January, February 

and March 2001, and the Federal 

criminal investigations are now 

complete. 

USFWS contracted with expert 

consultants to review the collection and 

consulted with 11 tribes having interest 

or affiliation in the objects. Three tribes 

filed claims requesting repatriation of 

objects from the collection. Upon 

review, the USFWS determined that two 

sacred objects (Item 6: Crow lumpwood 

dance wand and Item 46: spithorn 

headdress) are subject to repatriation to 

the Crow Tribe of Montana. 

Determinations Made by the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, Office of Law 

Enforcement 

Based on the above-mentioned 

information, officials of the USFWS 

have determined that: 

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(C), 

two of the cultural items described 

above are specific ceremonial objects 

needed by traditional Native American 

religious leaders for the practice of 

traditional Native American religions by 

their present-day adherents. 

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there 

is a relationship of shared group 

identity that can be reasonably traced 

between two cultural objects and the 

Crow Tribe of Montana. 

Additional Requestors and Disposition 

Representatives of any other Indian 

tribe that believes itself to be culturally 

affiliated with these sacred objects 

should contact the Special Agent in 

Charge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Office of Law Enforcement, 134 Union 

Blvd., Room 550, Lakewood, CO 80228; 

telephone (303) 236–7540, April 6, 

2012. Repatriation of the sacred objects 

the Crow Tribe of Montana may proceed 

after that date if no additional claimants 

come forward. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Office of Law Enforcement, Lakewood, 

CO, is responsible for notifying the 

Crow Tribe of Montana that this notice 

has been published. 

Dated: March 2, 2012. 

Sherry Hutt, 

Manager, National NAGPRA Program. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5584 Filed 3–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[2253–665] 

Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural 

Items: Maxey Museum, Whitman 

College, Walla Walla, WA 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: Maxey Museum, in 

consultation with the appropriate 

Indian tribes, has determined that the 

cultural items 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 these cultural items may contact 

Maxey Museum. 

DATES: Representatives of any Indian 

tribe that believes it has a cultural 

affiliation with the cultural items 

should contact Maxey Museum at the 

address below by April 6, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Gary Rollefson, Maxey 

Museum, Whitman College, 345 Boyer 

Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, 

telephone (509) 527–4938. 

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 in the possession of Maxey 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 45 / Wednesday, March 7, 2012 / Notices 13623 

Museum 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 Native 

American cultural items. The National 

Park Service is not responsible for the 

determinations in this notice. 

History and Description of the Cultural 

Items 

The following cultural items in Maxey 

Museum came from various collectors 

and sites within the Columbia River 

Plateau near the confluence of the 

Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon 

and Washington. The unassociated 

funerary objects are: 25 stone 

implements; 3 pestle fragments; 2 

pounding stones; 1 grooved weight; 1 

grooved stone; 1 mortar; 2 pestles; 1 

bone awl; and 1 lot of metal beads. 

The stone implements were collected 

at various points along the Columbia 

and Snake Rivers, most notably by H.T. 

Harding and Dr. H.S. Brode. Journals 

and donor records indicate these objects 

were collected in the following 

locations: ‘‘opposite the mouth of the 

Yakima River’’ in September 1925 and 

May 1928; ‘‘along the Columbia River, 

north of Pasco, Washington. Presented 

by H.S. Brode, April 14, 1929’’; and 

along the ‘‘Snake River, N.E. Burbank, 

Washington. H.S. Brode and J.C. 

Bunnell, 1930.’’ The bone awl was 

purchased by Whitman College from 

Mr. Clarence McBeth on January 24, 

1930, and is listed as being from ‘‘an 

Indian grave along the Snake River in 

Walla Walla County, southwest of 

Riparia, Washington.’’ Lastly, the metal 

beads were taken from ‘‘an Indian grave, 

Tucannon Burial Ground’’ and were 

donated to Maxey Museum by F.G. 

Moor in 1944. 

A detailed assessment of the cultural 

items was made by Maxey Museum 

professional staff in consultation with 

representatives of the Confederated 

Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, 

Washington; Confederated Tribes of the 

Colville Reservation, Washington; 

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla 

Reservation, Oregon; Confederated 

Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation 

of Oregon; Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho 

(previously listed as Nez Perce Tribe of 

Idaho) (hereafter referred to as ‘‘The 

Tribes’’); and the Wanapum Band, a 

non-Federally recognized Indian group 

(hereafter referred to as ‘‘The Indian 

Group’’). The Tribes and The Indian 

Group claim these objects as 

unassociated funerary objects due to the 

provenance indicating the objects were 

removed from known burial sites within 

the Columbia River Plateau. All of the 

collection sites are located in close 

proximity to one another within the 

traditional territories of The Tribes and 

The Indian Group. 

The collection site opposite the 

mouth of the Yakima River is a burial 

area now known as site 45FR101, 

Chiawana Park. Lewis and Clark 

mentioned how heavily this area was 

populated during the fall salmon runs. 

Fishing stations, processing areas and 

villages were located on both sides of 

the Columbia River and at the mouth of 

the Yakima River (Moulton 1988) and 

north of Pasco, WA. A large excavation 

of this site occurred in 1967 by the MidColumbia Archaeology Society under 

the direction of Dr. David Rice. 

Approximately, sixteen burials were 

removed to a repository at Washington 

State University; however, some of the 

remains were reported to be repatriated 

to the Yakama Nation in 1982 (Collins 

et al. 2001, LaSarge 2002). Brode and 

Bunnell collected together in the 1930s 

at NE Burbank, WA, on the Snake River. 

Hood Park is northeast of Burbank and 

was heavily used as a traditional salmon 

fishing and processing area by The 

Tribes and The Indian Group (Iverson 

1976; Croghan 1999; Wright 2001). 

Wright (2001:6) states that burials were 

located and removed from the day use 

and campground areas of the park in the 

mid-1970s. Erosion along the Snake 

River shoreline has also caused burials 

to be exposed from this location over 

the years. The Tucannon Burial Ground 

is congruent with Smithsonian site 

45CO1, a large, heavily looted fishing 

station, open camp and burial site at the 

mouth of the Tucannon River where it 

joins the Snake River. The Indian grave 

described as southwest of Riparia, WA, 

is likely in the vicinity of the mouth of 

the Tucannon River. The Tucannon 

River is situated along a traditional 

cultural boundary between the Nez 

Perce Tribe and the Confederated Tribes 

of the Umatilla Reservation. 

Based on traditional lifeways, past 

and present, The Tribes and The Indian 

Group are direct descendant 

communities of the native people that 

jointly used the lower Snake and 

Columbia rivers. As aboriginal lifeways 

were being extinguished by EuroAmerican settlement of the Pacific 

Northwest, treaties were negotiated and 

signed with the native communities 

during the expansion of Washington 

and Oregon territories. The native 

peoples in these territories were 

removed from the shores of the 

Columbia and Snake rivers to the 

Colville, Umatilla, Warm Springs, 

Yakama and Nez Perce reservations. The 

Wanapum Band was removed from the 

rivers as well but was not put on a 

reservation of their own. Cultural 

affiliation is further reinforced by living, 

enrolled members of The Tribes and 

The Indian Group that have 

documented ancestors buried along the 

lower Snake and Columbia rivers. 

Determinations Made by Maxey 

Museum 

Officials of Maxey Museum have 

determined that: 

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), 

the 37 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 

specific burial sites of Native American 

individuals. 

• 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 and The Tribes and The Indian 

Group. 

Additional Requestors and Disposition 

Representatives of any other Indian 

tribe that believes itself to be culturally 

affiliated with the unassociated funerary 

objects should contact Gary Rollefson, 

Maxey Museum, Whitman College, 345 

Boyer Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, 

telephone (509) 527–4938, before April 

6, 2012. Repatriation of the unassociated 

funerary objects to The Tribes and The 

Indian Group may proceed after that 

date if no additional claimants come 

forward. 

Maxey Museum is responsible for 

notifying The Tribes and The Indian 

Group that this notice has been 

published. 

Dated: March 2, 2012. 

Sherry Hutt, 

Manager, National NAGPRA Program. 

[FR Doc. 2012–5581 Filed 3–6–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–50–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

[2253–665] 

National Park Service 

Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural 

Items: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Office of Law Enforcement, Lakewood, 

CO 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES