[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11576-11577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office 
[www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4514]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-663]


Notice of Inventory Completion: 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, and the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and 
Cultural History have completed an inventory of human remains in consultation 
with the appropriate Indian tribes, and have determined that there is a 
cultural affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian tribes. 
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 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. 3003, of 
the completion of an inventory of human remains under the control of the U.S. 
Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, Walla 
Walla, WA, and in the physical custody of the University of Oregon Museum of 
Natural and Cultural History (UO-
MNCH), Eugene, OR. The human remains were removed from 45BN3, a village site 
located on Berrian's Island, in Benton 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.

[[Page 11577]]

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by U.S. Department of 
Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, and UO-MNCH 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 Indian Reservation, Oregon; 
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation of Oregon; Nez 
Perce Tribe, Idaho; and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian 
Group.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1948 and 1949, human remains representing, at minimum, seven 
individuals were removed from 45BN3, a pre-contact protohistoric village site 
located on the south side of Berrian's Island, in Benton County, WA. Site 
45BN3 is located within the McNary Lock and Dam Project on the Columbia 
River. The McNary Lock and Dam Project is managed by the U.S. Department of 
Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, who initiated land 
acquisition processes for the Project in 1947.
    In 1947, the Smithsonian Institution's River Basin Survey Project (SRBS) 
surveyed and surface collected material cultural remains from site 45BN3. In 
1948, the SRBS excavated the site and removed 50 burials and 1,650 artifacts. 
Many of the burials were recovered in situ and were bounded by wood. 
Originally identified as cists, this wood was later determined to be the 
burnt remains of conical wood stacks that had been erected over the burials. 
The associated funerary objects included copper, iron, glass trade beads, 
shell ornaments and stone implements. Following completion of field 
investigations, the collections were transported to the SRBS laboratory at 
the University of Oregon. In 1949, the SRBS returned to site 45BN3 and 
salvaged four additional burials that had been looted by amateur collectors.
    The collections recovered through the SRBS investigations were 
transferred to three separate repositories: the Smithsonian Institution; the 
University of Washington (UW) Burke Museum, Seattle, WA; and UO-MNCH, Eugene, 
OR. The portions of the collections held at UO-MNCH were accessioned between 
1950-1952, and include materials 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. Materials from the 1948 and 1949 SRBS collections at 
UO-MNCH were inventoried in 1985 and again in 1996. The remains of seven 
individuals (accession 100KT/MP) were documented through the inventory. Due 
to an absence of associated documentation, these seven individuals cannot be 
connected to specific burials. The remains are those of an adult male, an 
adult female, two adults of indeterminate gender, two children and another 
individual of indeterminate age and gender. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    The estimated date range of the other burials from site 45BN3 is 1750-
1811, based upon the presence of Colonial uniform buttons whose earliest 
manufacture date is c.1750 and the absence of firearms, whose use by local 
tribes began c.1811. Further evidence supporting the date of these burials is 
the volume of trade goods observed in both the burials and in the living 
area. Site 45BN3 was also reported to have contained evidence of 
contemporaneous mat lodge pits. Distinctive morphological traits, burial 
methods and associated funerary objects indicate Native American ancestry and 
funerary traditions reflective of Native groups of the Columbia Plateau.

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:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9)-(10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of seven individuals 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 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 the Warm Springs Indian Reservation of Oregon; and the Nez Perce 
Tribe, Idaho (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes''). Additionally, a 
cultural relationship is determined to exist between the sites and 
collections and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian Group.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains 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 human remains to The Tribes 
and (if joined) the Wanapum Band, a non-
Federally recognized 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 Wanapum Band, a 
non-Federally recognized Indian Group, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 22, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-4514 Filed 2-24-12; 8:45 am]
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