[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 12, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26785-26786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11352]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: U.S. Department
of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, Walla Walla,
WA and Museum of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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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 a cultural item in the possession of the U.S. Department
of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, Walla Walla,
WA, and Museum of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman,
WA, that meets the definition of ``unassociated funerary object'' 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
item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
In 1968, an unassociated funerary object was removed from the
floodplain area of site 45FR50, Marmes Rockshelter, in Franklin County,
WA, during excavations conducted by Washington State University under
contract with the Army Corps of Engineers. The object is an articulated
owl foot, originally found between two modified stone flakes, in the
Marmes Windust Phase stratum at the site (11,000-8,000 BP). The object
- the owl foot bones and two modified chert or chalcedony flakes - was
accessioned by Washington State University under inventory number 5780.
Site 45FR50 consists of a rockshelter and sloping floodplain area
in front of the rockshelter proper. The archeological materials at site
45FR50 have been variously classified into chronological and cultural
phases, and include the Windust Phase (+11,000-8000 BP), Cascade Phase
(8000-4500 BP), Tucannon Phase (4500-2500 BP), and Harder Phase (2500-
500 BP). The floodplain deposits date from the earliest period, or the
Windust Phase.
Human remains representing a minimum of four individuals and
associated funerary objects were excavated from the floodplain
deposits. The associated funerary objects included 23 pieces of faunal
material directly associated with the human remains, and four bone rods
found with a specific individual identified at the time of excavation
as Marmes I. Other cultural items excavated from the earliest deposit
(Windust Phase) include stone tools and lithic debitage, worked and
unworked faunal bone, and possibly some red ochre. The owl foot object
(consisting of the owl foot bones and two modified flakes) was
excavated from the Windust Phase stratum, but was not found in direct
association with any human remains. However, owls are important in
southern Plateau Native American culture as ceremonial symbols, and
items such as the owl foot object are still used as funerary items in
Yakama and Nez Perce burials. Owl parts were often buried with medicine
[[Page 26786]]
men because they were thought to be too powerful for anyone else to
possess. Therefore, officials of the U.S. Department of Defense, Army
Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, reasonably believe the object
is an unassociated funerary object.
Archeological evidence provides the most direct line of evidence
supporting affiliation between an earlier group and a present-day
Indian tribe. The evidence found at site 45FR50, and in nearby
archeological sites, supports a nearly continuous occupation of this
region of the Columbia Plateau beginning as far back as 11,500 years.
The archeological assemblage of site 45FR50 represents a long sequence
of cultural occupation. Archeological and geological connections at the
site can be drawn both horizontally across the site, from the
rockshelter to the floodplain and across the floodplain, and also
vertically, from the earlier deposits to the later deposits. Cultural
continuity from the earliest to latest occupations within the site can
be traced through the changes in the use of subsistence resources
(marine and other) and the gradual changes in lithic assemblages.
Additionally, the presence of the articulated owl foot object provides
further support for cultural affiliation. The owl image is commonly
seen in petroglyphs and on stone objects in the region. The Sahaptin
languages have words for owls, and ``owl'' appears in the names of
individuals (for example, there is a Maynard White Owl Lavadour of the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation). The owl is a
primary character in many Nez Perce Coyote stories, and is often
characterized as having superior abilities. Cultural practices of
historic Native groups in the region include owl dances.
Geographical and anthropological lines of evidence support the
archeological evidence of earlier group habitation in the same
geographic location as the historic groups. Anthropologically, evidence
for continuity includes the presence of red ochre and olivella shells
in the earliest Windust Phase deposits, continuing into later deposits
and found in the later burials. Finally, oral tradition evidence
provided by tribal elders indicates a large Palus village, which had
been inhabited by tribal ancestors from time immemorial, was once
located near the Marmes Rockshelter, site 45FR50. According to tribal
elders, their ancestors were mobile and traveled the landscape to
gather resources, as well as to trade.
Ethnographic documentation indicates that the present-day location
of the Marmes Rockshelter in Franklin County, WA, is within the
territory occupied historically by the Palus (Palouse) Indians. During
the historic period, the Palouse people settled along the Snake River;
relied on fish, game, and root resources for subsistence; shared their
resource areas and maintained extensive kinship connections with other
groups in the area; and had limited political integration until the
adoption of the horse (Walker 1998). These characteristics are common
to the greater Plateau cultural communities surrounding the Palouse
territory including the Nez Perce, Cayuse, Walla Walla, Yakama, and
Wanapum groups. Moreover, information provided during consultation by
representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation,
Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation,
Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington;
Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho; and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally
recognized Indian group, substantiate shared past and present
traditional lifeways that bind the aforementioned Indian tribes and the
Wanapum Band to common ancestors. The descendants of these Plateau
communities of southeastern Washington are now widely dispersed and are
members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation,
Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation,
Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington;
Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho; and the Wanapum Band, a non-Federally
recognized Indian group.
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(3)(B), the one cultural item described above is 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 is
believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from
a specific burial site of an Native American individual. Officials of
the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla
District, also have determined that, 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 object and the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands
of the Yakama Nation, Washington; and the Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho.
Furthermore, officials of the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of
Engineers, Walla Walla District, have determined that there is a
cultural relationship between the unassociated funerary object and the
Wanapum Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian group.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes their tribe
is culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary object should
contact LTC Michael Farrell, U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of
Engineers, Walla Walla District, 201 North Third Ave., Walla Walla, WA
99362-1876, telephone (509) 527-7700, before June 11, 2010.
Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of
the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands
of the Yakama Nation, Washington; and Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho, may
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward. The
U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla
District, recognizes the participation of the Wanapum Band, a non-
Federally recognized Indian group, during the transfer of the cultural
item to the Indian tribes.
The U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, Walla
Walla District, is responsible for notifying the Confederated Tribes of
the Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of
the Yakama Nation, Washington; Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho; and the Wanapum
Band, a non-Federally recognized Indian group, that this notice has
been published.
Dated: May 4, 2010
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-11352 Filed 5-11-10; 8:45 am]
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