[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11568-11569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office 
[www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4507]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: 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, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, has 
determined that the items in this notice meet the definition of unassociated 
funerary objects and repatriation to the Indian tribes stated below may occur 
if no additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural items may 
contact the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla 
District.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a cultural 
affiliation with the cultural items should contact 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. 3005, of 
the intent to repatriate cultural items under the control of the U.S. 
Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District (Corps), 
Walla Walla, WA, and in the physical custody of the University of Oregon 
Museum of Natural and Cultural History (UO-MNCH), Eugene, OR, that meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural items. The 
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this 
notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    The unassociated funerary objects included in this notice were all removed 
from sites located within the McNary Lock and Dam Project on the Columbia 
River. The McNary Lock and Dam Project is managed by the Corps, who initiated 
land acquisition processes for the Project in 1947.
    In 1948, the Smithsonian Institution's River Basin Survey Project (SRBS) 
removed human remains and funerary objects from site 45BN3, a pre-contact 
protohistoric village site located on Berrian's Island, in the Columbia River, 
in Benton County, WA. The recovered collections were transferred to three 
separate repositories: The Smithsonian Institution; the University of 
Washington (UW) Burke Museum, Seattle, WA; and UO-MNCH, Eugene, OR. The 
portion of the collections in the physical custody of UO-MNCH was re-
inventoried in 1996, under a contract with the Corps. Unassociated funerary 
objects in the collection were recovered 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. The 189 
unassociated funerary objects are 1 abalone pendant, 3 antler digging stick 
handles, 1 antler wedge, 1 antler wedge fragment, 2 arrow-shaft smoothers, 1 
arrow-shaft smoother fragment, 2 arrow-shaft straighteners, 2 bear canines 
(badly decayed), 1 bird bone fragment, 1 bird effigy charm stone, 3 bivalves, 
3 perforated bivalves, 1 broken chalcedony blade, 7 blue trade beads, 1 bone 
comb, 2 bone fragments, 1 bone pin, 1 brass pendant, 2 carved bone fragments, 
1 celt fragment, 1 serpentine celt (unfinished), 1 chacedony drill, 2 
choppers, 1 copper fragment, 1 copper pendant, 1 copper pendant fragment, 8 
copper tube beads, 4 incised Dentalia shells, 3 Dentalia shells, 3 lots of 
Dentalia shells/fragments, 1 broken drill, 1 petrified wood drill (in 2 
pieces), 2 drilled bear claws, 1 eagle bone whistle, 2 flakes, 1 flesher, 9 
glass beads, 1 Glycymeris fragment, 1 graver or drill, 1 hook-shaped 
charmstone, 1 iron tinkler, 1 iron blade, 1 knife, 2

[[Page 11569]]

knife fragments, 1 crushed metal button, 1 shanked and drilled metal button, 2 
Olivella shells, 1 Olivella shell fragment, 1 lot of Olivella shell beads, 6 
lots of Olivella shells, 1 oval blade, 2 pendants, 2 perforated shells, 1 
pestle, 1 broken pestle (3 pieces, repaired), 1 basalt pestle, 1 petrified 
wood knife, 1 pink chalcedony knife, 6 projectile points, 1 point or blade, 1 
point or drill, 1 broken obsidian projectile point, 1 chalcedony point, 1 
petrified wood point, 1 broken petrified wood point, 1 while flint point, 1 
scoria file or whetstone, 10 scrapers, 1 brown agate scraper, 2 chalcedony 
scrapers, 1 flint scraper, 13 shells, 2 shell beads, 2 lots of shell beads, 2 
shell pendants, 1 silver pendant, 2 carved slate effigies, 2 carved slate 
effigies with ochre on surface, 1 incised slate effigy, 1 smooth burned stone, 
7 smooth stones, 1 soapstone pipe bowl fragment, 2 soil samples, 1 steatite 
pipe, 1 steatite spoon, 1 stone mallet/maul, 1 unidentified stone object, 1 
serpentine stone pendant, 3 strings of juniper beads, 1 string of Olivella 
shell and wooden beads, 1 drilled thimble, 1 tubular stone pipe, 1 lot of 
wooden beads, 1 worked bone or tube bead (burned), 1 mammal incisor, 1 worked 
deer incisor, and 1 worked tooth or antler wedge (badly decayed).
    In 1947, the SRBS removed human remains and funerary objects from 
previously disturbed burials at 45BN45 (aka 45BN186), located on an island in 
the Columbia River, in Benton County, WA. The 1947 SRBS collection was 
transported to Fort Vancouver National Monument in Vancouver, WA. In 1960, a 
portion of the collection was transferred to and accessioned by UO-MNCH (OSMA 
accession 102). The unassociated funerary objects were described as 
originating from the backdirt piles of one or more disturbed burials 
identified at the site. The ten unassociated funerary objects are 1 copper 
pendant, 3 metal fragments, and 6 glass beads. The site consisted of a village 
and burial site dating to the late pre-contact protohistoric period or 
earlier.
    In 1947, SRBS removed funerary objects from burials at 45FR28, on Borgan's 
Island, in Benton County, WA. At the time, 45FR28 was reported to contain 
extensively disturbed burials marked by cedar posts and located in the sand 
dunes on the southern end of the island. It is unclear whether or not human 
remains were collected during this survey. Materials from the 1947 SRBS 
investigations were transported to Fort Vancouver National Monument, in 
Vancouver, WA. In 1960, the collection was transferred to UO-MCNH (OSMA 
accession 202). Funerary objects were reportedly removed from Burials 1 and 2. 
The 14 unassociated funerary objects are 1 lot of clamshell disk beads, 1 lot 
of plant seed beads, 2 lots of Olivella shell beads, 1 lot of dentalium 
shells, 1 individual dentalium, 4 copper fragments, 1 projectile point 
fragment, 1 lot of hair, 1 lot of hair and fiber, and 1 iron spike. The site 
consisted of burials of the proto-historic to historic period date. The burial 
methods and artifacts are consistent with Plateau funerary practices during 
that era.
    Prior to 1950 or 1951, funerary objects were recovered on an island north 
of Hover, Benton County, WA, in direct association with a burial. The ``Island 
North of Hover'' funerary objects were donated by a private party to the UO-
MNCH in 1950 or 1951. No human remains were donated. The collection was re-
inventoried by UO-MNCH in 1996, under a contract with the Corps. The 57 
unassociated funerary objects are 23 decorated bird bones, 1 decorated animal 
bone, 4 grooved bones, 1 slotted bone, 2 projectile points, 1 pipe, 5 shell 
beads, 2 stone beads, 4 shell pendants, 2 jasper pendants, 3 stone pendants, 1 
graphite pendant, 1 needle or awl, 5 elk incisors, 1 badger claw, and 1 
carnivore claw.

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:
     Five lines of evidence--geographical, ethnographic, archeological, 
anthropological and historical--support a cultural affiliation between 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 Warm Springs 
Reservation, Oregon; and the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho (hereinafter referred to 
as ``The Tribes'') and the unassociated funerary objects identified above. 
Additionally, a cultural relationship is determined to exist between the sites 
and collections and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian Group 
(hereinafter referred to as ``The Indian Group'').
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 270 cultural items 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 
and are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed 
from the specific burial sites of Native American individuals.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of shared group 
identity that can be reasonably traced between the unassociated funerary 
objects, The Tribes and The Indian Group. Information provided by The Tribes 
and The Indian Group shows that they are descended from the Native people who 
occupied these sites, and that the individuals buried along the Snake and mid-
Columbia Rivers are their ancestors. The aforementioned tribes are all part of 
the more broadly defined Plateau cultural community having shared past and 
present traditional lifeways that binds them to common ancestors.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects 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 unassociated funerary 
objects to The Tribes and (if joined) The 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 Indian Group that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 22, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-4507 Filed 2-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P