[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15802-15803]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office 
[www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-6322]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Central Washington University Department of 
Anthropology, Ellensburg, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Central Washington University Department of Anthropology has 
completed an inventory of human remains in consultation with the appropriate 
Indian tribe, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between 
the human remains and a present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any 
Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human 
remains may contact the Central Washington University Department of 
Anthropology. Repatriation of the human remains to the Indian tribe 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 Central Washington 
University Department of Anthropology at the address below by April 16, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Lourdes Henebry-DeLeon, Central Washington University Department 
of Anthropology, 400 E. University Drive, Ellensburg, WA 98926-7544, 
telephone (509) 963-2671.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby 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 Central Washington University Department of Anthropology, Ellensburg, WA. 
The human remains were removed from Grays Harbor 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 Central 
Washington University Department of Anthropology professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis 
Reservation, Washington.

History and Description of the Remains

    In November 1947, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from site 45-GH-15 (Minard) in Grays Harbor County, WA, by 
archeologist Richard Daugherty of the University of Washington during his 
systematic archeological survey of the Washington coast. Richard Daugherty 
noted that the property owner had inadvertently uncovered at least 27 human 
skeletons while plowing his fields. According to the Thomas Burke Memorial 
Washington State Museum (Burke Museum) accession ledger, Daugherty collected 
two femora and one humerus. The collection was formally accessioned by the 
Burke Museum in 1947 (Burke Accn. 3583). In 1974, the Burke Museum legally 
transferred the right humerus and left femur to Central Washington University 
Department of Anthropology (CWU ID BA).
    The bones were examined by physical anthropologist Lourdes Henebry-
DeLeon of Central Washington University, and the skeletal remains, which 
consist of a humerus and femur, cannot be used to establish conclusively 
cultural affiliation. However, the human remains have markings of 19-15(1) 
(right humerus) and 19-15(2) (left femur) written on them indicating the 
collecting location. Burke Museum records show 19-15 is the catalog number 
associated with site 45-GH-15. Based on the markings on the remains, the 
records at the Burke Museum and Richard Daugherty's survey records it is 
reasonably believed that these remains are from site 45-GH-15. There have 
been other Notices of Inventory Completion (NICs) published in the Federal 
Register for site 45-GH-15 (72 FR 27845-27846, May 17, 2007, and 73 FR 49484-
49485, August 21, 2008). The materials reported in the earlier NICs were 
culturally affiliated with the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis 
Reservation, Washington. Based on archeological context and the platymeric 
femoral morphology, the individual has been determined to be Native American. 
No known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Site 45-GH-15 is located at or near the traditional Copalis village of 
Oyhut. The Copalis are considered to have been a band of the Lower Chehalis 
whose traditional territory encompassed the lower reaches of the Chehalis 
River and the present-day county of Grays Harbor, WA. The site is located 
within the area

[[Page 15803]]

identified by the Indian Claims Commission as the aboriginal territory of the 
Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington. Continuities 
within the archeological record and oral tradition indicate that ancestors of 
the present day Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington, 
resided at the site.

Determinations Made by the Central Washington University Department of 
Anthropology

    Officials of Central Washington University Department of Anthropology 
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, based on the archeological context.
     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 of the Chehalis Reservation, Washington.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally 
affiliated with the human remains should contact Lourdes Henebry-DeLeon, 
Central Washington University Department of Anthropology, 400 E. University 
Drive, Ellensburg, WA 98926-7544, telephone (509) 963-2671, before April 16, 
2012. Repatriation of the human remains to Confederated Tribes of the 
Chehalis Reservation, Washington, may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The Central Washington University Department of Anthropology is 
responsible for notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis 
Reservation, Washington, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 12, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-6322 Filed 3-15-12; 8:45 am]
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