[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 185 (Friday, September 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58429-58430]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23926]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: Northwest Museum of Arts &
Culture, Spokane, 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. 3003, of the
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects in the possession of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture,
aka Eastern Washington State Historical Society, Spokane, WA. The human
remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Lincoln,
Ferry and Stevens Counties, 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 possession of the
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this
notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the
Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture professional staff in consultation
with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian
Reservation, Washington.
During the period July 1939 to September 1940, human remains and
associated funerary objects were removed from seven different sites in
Lincoln, Ferry and Stevens Counties, WA, encompassing a vast, 150-mile
area. The human remains and associated funerary objects described below
were excavated by Donald Collier, Alfred E. Hudson and Arlo Ford due to
the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam and its reservoir (Lake
Roosevelt), whose waters would soon cover the area. This undertaking
was known as ``The Columbian Basin Archaeological Survey'' or the
``Collier, Hudson, and Ford Project.'' It was a multi-institutional
venture involving the Eastern Washington State Historical Society (now
Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture), University of Washington, and the
State College of Washington (now Washington State University). It was
also a multi-agency venture involving the Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau
of Indian Affairs, Civilian Conservation Corps, and the Works Project
Administration (including the National Youth Administration). In 1940,
the Eastern Washington State Historical Society became the repository
for the collection, as mandated by the Bureau of Reclamation. Portions
of the land from which the human remains and associated funerary
objects derive were non-Federal lands, and other portions were Federal
lands at the time of removal. Moreover, the Federal lands fell under
the management authority of several different agencies. Consequently,
there has been a question of control over the collection. After several
years of research, the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture has been
unable to determine additional specifics regarding the control of each
site. Therefore, absent additional information, the Northwest Museum of
Arts & Culture is assuming responsibility under NAGPRA with regard to
publishing this Notice and repatriating the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the culturally affiliated tribe.
From 1940 until 1951, the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture was
the repository for the recovered materials. On February 24, 1951, the
museum agreed to loan the human remains to the Washington State Museum
of the University of Washington for scientific study. According to
letters substantiating the agreement, all the human remains borrowed by
the University of Washington were returned to the museum on May 29,
1951, and were repatriated to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Indian Reservation, Washington, in 1979.
[[Page 58430]]
Unfortunately, the repatriation in 1979 was incomplete. In December
1994, the Thomas Burke Memorial Museum at the University of Washington
(formerly Washington State Museum) informed the Northwest Museum of
Arts & Culture that they had found five boxes of skeletal material
thought to be related to the 1951 loan agreement. In addition, during
the time between 1951 and 1995, the human remains were the subject of
additional transfers to various institutions. However, the human
remains were retrieved and returned to Northwest Museum of Arts &
Culture between June 15, 1995 and November 5, 1995. This Notice
includes the human remains and associated funerary objects from the
seven sites currently in the collection of the Northwest Museum of Arts
& Culture.
Human remains representing a minimum of nine individuals were
removed from Site 2 (45-LI-27), opposite the mouth of the Sanpoil, in
Lincoln County, WA. No known individuals were identified. The 11
associated funerary objects are 1 basalt piece, 1 bone awl, 1 unworked
and worked cache form, 1 scraper, 1 pestle, 1 blade fragment, 1 piece
of wood, 3 projectile points and 1 knife.
Human remains representing a minimum of nine individuals were
removed from Site 7A (45-FE-7), in Ferry County, WA. No known
individuals were identified. The eight associated funerary objects are
two rusted iron fragments and six dentalia shell beads.
Human remains representing a minimum of nine individuals were
removed from Site 7B (45-FE-7), a half mile up the bank of the Columbia
from Site 7A, in Ferry County, WA. No known individuals were
identified. The 52 associated funerary objects are 35 blue glass beads
and 17 white glass beads.
Human remains representing a minimum of three individuals were
removed from Site 13 (45-FE-13), in Ferry County, WA. No known
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
Human remains representing a minimum of one individual were removed
from Site 21 (45-FE?-21, an unknown area, but most likely in Ferry
County, WA. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary
objects are present.
Human remains representing a minimum of 27 individuals were removed
from Site 24 (45-FE-24), in Ferry County, WA. No known individuals were
identified. The 497 associated funerary objects are 2 arrow shaft
smoothers, 1 bone harpoon, 1 bone awl, 2 knives, 6 projectile points, 1
string of copper bone beads, 100 dentalia (11 of which are dentalia
beads), 1 clam shell disc bead, 7 rolled copper beads, 1 hand maul, 4
bear penis bones, 2 gravers, 13 perforated elk teeth, 1 abalone gorget,
6 copper pendants, 5 worked bone fragments, 1 copper bracelet, 1
rectangular perforated copper plate, 52 olivellae, 2 antler digging
sticks, 270 glass beads, 1 shell bead, 14 sets of wooden burial marker
sacks and 3 sets of ``fill-over burial'' sacks.
Human remains representing a minimum of three individuals were
removed from Site 31 (45-ST-31), one-quarter of a mile above the
Gifford-Inchelium ferry landing, in Stevens County, WA. No known
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
Extensive historic documentation--original maps, journal entries,
field notes, newspaper articles, professional journal publications, and
Archaeology of the Upper Columbia Region, published by Donald Collier,
Alfred E. Hudson, and Arlo Ford in 1942, and detailing their findings
of the original excavation--and documented burial practices, associated
funerary object typology (both pre and post-contact), and three in-
depth osteological studies, all confirm that the human remains are
Native American.
Based on the geographic location of the sites, the anthropological
analyses of the human remains, such as dental attrition and cranial
deformation, and structural remnants found at the sites (pit and earth
ovens), it is determined that the human remains and associated funerary
objects are representative of Plateau Native Culture. The seven sites
fall within the traditional aboriginal territory of the bands of
Indians (Wenatchee, Nespelem, Moses-Columbia, Colville, Okanagan,
Palus, San Poil, Entiat, Chelan, Lake, and Chief Joseph's Band of the
Nez Perce) that now comprise the Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Indian Reservation, Washington, who were confederated in 1872. Further,
the types of burial practices (i.e. pit inhumations and talus slopes)
and funerary objects (including large amounts of copper), tribal oral
tradition, and extensive historic documentation of the original
excavation, all show that the human remains and associated funerary
objects have direct ancestral ties to the bands of Indians that are now
represented by the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian
Reservation, Washington.
Officials of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture have determined
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described above
represent the physical remains of 61 individuals of Native American
ancestry. Officials of the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture also have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 568 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. Lastly, officials of the Northwest Museum
of Arts & Culture 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 Native American human remains and associated
funerary objects and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian
Reservation, Washington.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Mr. Michael Holloman, Northwest Museum of Arts &
Culture, 2316 West First Ave., Spokane, WA 99201, telephone (509) 363-
5337, before October 25, 2010. Repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Indian Reservation, Washington, may proceed after that date if no
additional claimants come forward.
The Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture is responsible for notifying
the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation, Washington,
that this notice has been published.
Dated: September 10, 2010.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2010-23926 Filed 9-23-10; 8:45 am]
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