[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 165 (Friday, August 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51565-51566]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20885]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11017; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Southern Oregon Historical 
Society, Medford, OR

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Southern Oregon Historical Society has completed an 
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined 
that there is no cultural affiliation between the remains and any 
present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any Indian tribe that 
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains may 
contact the Southern Oregon Historical Society. Disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribe 
stated below may occur if no additional requestors come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Southern 
Oregon Historical Society at the address below by September 24, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Tina Reuwsaat, Southern Oregon Historical Society, 106 N. 
Central Ave., Medford, OR 97501, telephone (541) 858-1724 ext. 1001.

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 and 
associated funerary objects in the possession of the Southern Oregon 
Historical Society, Medford, OR. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from a site near the village of Buncom, 
in Jackson County, OR.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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 Southern 
Oregon Historical Society professional

[[Page 51566]]

staff in consultation with representatives of the Confederated Tribes 
of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua 
Indians of Oregon. The following tribes were contacted without 
response: Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians 
of Oregon; Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians of Oregon (previously 
listed as the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation); Coquille 
Tribe of Oregon; and the Quartz Valley Indian Community of the Quartz 
Valley Reservation of California.

History and Description of the Remains

    Sometime prior to 1952, human remains representing, at minimum, two 
individuals, were collected by O.N. Snavely from a site near the 
village of Buncom, in Jackson County, OR. Mr. Snavely ``found this 
grave while mining'' on private land along the Little Applegate River, 
two miles from the confluence with the Big Applegate river at the mouth 
of Carberry Creek. In 1952, Mr. Snavely donated the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Southern Oregon Historical Society. 
The collection includes ten human teeth. No known individuals were 
identified. The 387 associated funerary objects include 1 metate; 1 
metal cowbell; 1 small metal cow bell; 1 metal powder flask; 1 rusted 
frying pan; 1 copper cooking pan; 1 piece of a broken china saucer; 1 
white saucer; 4 fragments of a broken cup; 3 pieces of an inkwell; 1 
wood knife handle; 1 metal knife handle; 2 rusted tablespoons; 2 pieces 
of a pocket watch; 2 rusted bullet molds; 7 small bells; 2 pieces of a 
pair of scissors; 1 metal part with rings; 1 large knife with a curved 
blade; 1 knife blade with beads attached; 2 gold rings; 8 shells; 97 
dentalia shells; 4 uniform buttons; 5 separate bags of beads; 96 
thimbles; 17 buttons of various sizes; 8 rusted metal rings; 1 elk 
tooth with a drilled hole; 86 white shell beads; 22 pine nut beads; and 
6 small glass medicine bottles.

Determinations Made by the Southern Oregon Historical Society

    Officials of the Southern Oregon Historical Society have determined 
that:
     Based on collection records and analysis by archaeologist 
Dr. Ted Goebel, the human remains are Native American.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
     Credible lines of evidence indicate that the land from 
which the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects 
were removed is the aboriginal land of the Confederated Tribes of the 
Grand Ronde Community of Oregon.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 387 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.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains is to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde 
Community of Oregon.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains or any other Indian tribe 
that believes it satisfies the criteria in 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1) should 
contact Tina Reuwsaat at the Southern Oregon Historical Society, 106 N. 
Central Avenue, Medford, OR 97520, telephone (541) 858-1724 ext. 1001, 
before September 24, 2012. Disposition of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon may 
proceed after that date if no additional requestors come forward.
    The Southern Oregon Historical Society is responsible for notifying 
the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the 
Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians of Oregon that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: August 6, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-20885 Filed 8-23-12; 8:45 am]
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