[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 93 (Friday, May 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 28073]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-11854]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]

Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Anthropology at 
Washington State University, Pullman, 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 and associated funerary 
items in the possession and control of the Museum of Anthropology at 
Washington State University, Pullman, WA. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were 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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Museum 
of Anthropology at Washington State University professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the 
Colville Reservation, Washington.
    In 1961, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals 
were removed from sites 45GR111 and 45GR121, Grant County, WA. The 
burials were excavated from three cairn marked talus burials in the 
Lower Grand Coulee/Sun Lakes region. The work was done in conjunction 
with an archeological survey of the region directed by Richard 
Daugherty of Washington State University. No known individuals were 
identified. The 22 associated funerary objects are 3 lots of basketry 
fragments, 2 lots of mammal remains, 2 lots of wood fragments, 2 lots 
of snail shells, 1 lot of bark fragments, 8 lots of bag residue, 2 lots 
of shell beads, 1 digging stick handle, and 1 stone scraper.
    The manner of internment and the character of the associated 
funerary objects are distinctive for Native American burials of the 
late prehistoric through historic periods on the Columbia Plateau. The 
site is within the judicially established aboriginal territory of the 
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington. Tribal 
oral tradition and anthropological and historical research indicate the 
sites are within an area occupied by the Moses Columbia, who are 
legally represented by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville 
Reservation, Washington.
    Officials of the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State 
University have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), that the 
human remains described above represent the physical remains of three 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Museum of 
Anthropology at Washington State University also have determined, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), that the 22 objects (20 lots and 2 
individual objects) 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. Lastly, officials of 
the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University have 
determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), that there is a relationship 
of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and the 
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Mary Collins, Museum of Anthropology at 
Washington State University, PO Box 644910, Pullman, WA 99164, 
telephone (509) 335-4314, before June 13, 2011. Repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Confederated 
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington, may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University is 
responsible for notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Colville 
Reservation, Washington, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 9, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-11854 Filed 5-12-11; 8:45 am]
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