[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 181 (Monday, September 19, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58039-58040]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23902]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Thomas Burke Memorial Washington 
State Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum (Burke 
Museum), has completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation 
with the appropriate Indian Tribes, and has determined that there is a 
cultural affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian 
Tribes. Representatives of any Indian Tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the Burke 
Museum. Repatriation of the human remains to the Indian Tribes stated 
below may occur if no additional claimants come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian Tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Burke 
Museum at the address below by October 19, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Peter Lape, Burke Museum, University of Washington, Box 
353010, Seattle, WA 98195-3010, telephone (206) 685-3849.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 
possession of the Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. 
The human

[[Page 58040]]

remains were removed from Kittitas 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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Burke 
Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; 
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon; 
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; 
Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; and the 
Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho (hereinafter ``The Tribes''). The Burke Museum 
also consulted with the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian 
group (hereinafter ``The Indian Group'').

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1953-1954, human remains and funerary objects were removed from 
the Cedar Cave Site (45-KT-20), in Kittitas County, WA, during a 
University of Washington Field Expedition led by Dr. Earl Swanson, Jr. 
The human remains and funerary objects were transferred from the 
University of Washington Department of Anthropology and accessioned by 
the Burke Museum in 1966 (Burke Accn. 1966-95). In 1974, the 
Burke Museum legally transferred portions of the human remains to 
Central Washington University. In 2007, a Notice of Inventory 
Completion (NIC) describing 4 individuals and 42 associated funerary 
objects removed from the Cedar Cave site was published in the Federal 
Register [72 FR 52391-52392, September 13, 2007]. The Burke Museum and 
Central Washington University have jointly repatriated these human 
remains and funerary objects from the Cedar Cave site described in the 
NIC. In 2009, during a collection cataloging and rehousing project, the 
Burke Museum located one human tooth, representing an additional 
individual, which had also been removed from the Cedar Cave Site. No 
known individual was identified. There are no associated funerary 
objects for this individual.
    Early and late published ethnographic documentation indicates that 
the Cedar Cave Site is in the aboriginal territory of the Moses-
Columbia or Sinkiuse, and the Yakima (Daugherty 1973, Miller 1998, 
Mooney 1896, Ray 1936, Spier 1936) whose descendants are represented 
today by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, 
Washington, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, 
Washington. Furthermore, information provided during consultation 
indicates that the aboriginal ancestors occupying this area were highly 
mobile and traveled the landscape for gathering resources as well as 
trade. Descendants of these Plateau communities are now widely 
dispersed and enrolled in the two Tribes mentioned above, as well as 
the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian 
Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs 
Reservation of Oregon; and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized 
Indian group.

Determinations Made by the Burke Museum

    Officials of the Burke Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
     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 Tribes and The Indian Group.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian Tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Peter Lape, 
Burke Museum, University of Washington, Box 35101, Seattle, WA 98195, 
telephone (206) 685-3849, before October 19, 2011. Repatriation of the 
human remains to The Tribes and The Indian Group may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Burke Museum is responsible for notifying The Tribes and The 
Indian group that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 13, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-23902 Filed 9-16-11; 8:45 am]
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