[Federal Register: September 3, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 171)]
[Notices]
[Page 51511-51512]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03se08-112]
[[Page 51511]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
National Park Service, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Coulee
Dam, 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 control of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National
Park Service, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Coulee Dam, WA.
The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from six
archeological sites within the boundaries of Lake Roosevelt National
Recreation Area, Ferry 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
superintendent, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.
On April 9, 1872, land on the east side of the Columbia River in
Washington Territory was set aside as the Colville Reservation by
Executive Order. On July 2, 1872, that land was restored to the public
domain and land on the west side of the Columbia River was set aside as
the Colville Reservation. On July 1, 1892, Congress restored the north
half of the Colville Reservation to the public domain ,and reduced
tribal lands through allotments to individual Indians under the Dawes
Act of 1887. The two constituent tribes of the Confederated Tribes of
the Colville Reservation that are traditionally associated with the
area are the Colville and Lakes Tribes.
Grand Coulee Dam, initiated by the Bureau of Reclamation in the
1930s, was completed in 1941. Some of the lands inundated by the
resulting reservoir had been previously reserved by either the
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington or the
Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington. In 1946, a Tri-
Party Agreement among the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park
Service and the Office of Indian Affairs was developed to manage the
Coulee Dam Recreation Area in three zones: Reclamation Zone, Recreation
Zone, and Reservation Zone. The agreement gave the National Park
Service control of land in the Recreation Zone for most purposes,
including the management of archeological resources. In 1990, a five-
party Lake Roosevelt Cooperative Management Agreement was implemented
that included the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation,
Washington and the Spokane Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington
as signatories. The National Park Service retained control of the
Recreation Zone. The recreation area became Lake Roosevelt National
Recreation Area in 1997.
The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from
six archeological sites on land reserved by the Confederated Tribes of
the Colville Reservation, Washington until 1946. The sites were
affected by the Bureau of Reclamation's operation of Grand Coulee Dam
since the early 1940s, and are within the Recreation Zone managed by
the National Park Service. Human remains and associated funerary
objects from Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area were included in a
Bureau of Reclamation-wide NAGPRA inventory in 1995, but in 2005, the
Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service jointly determined
that Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area has control of the NAGPRA
collections and responsibility for compliance with NAGPRA.
Dr. Roderick Sprague supervised the removal of most of the human
remains and associated funerary objects during legally authorized
excavations between 1965 and 1985. The human remains and associated
funerary objects were stored at Washington State University (WSU) until
mid-1967, when they were moved to the Alfred W. Bowers Laboratory of
Anthropology at the University of Idaho (UI). Some of the human remains
were repatriated to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
in the late 1980s. The remaining human remains and associated funerary
objects were moved to Washington State University in 1999 and 2000, and
were accessioned by the National Park Service. The human remains and
objects were transferred to the physical custody of the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington in 2006.
A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary
objects was made by Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Bureau of
Reclamation, and Washington State University professional staff, with
assistance from a Central Washington University physical
anthropologist, and in consultation with representatives of
Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington.
In an unknown year, human remains representing a minimum of one
individual were removed by unknown persons from the Kettle Falls
Railroad Bridge Site (45-FE-38), a historic, early contact period site
in Ferry County, WA. No known individual was identified. No associated
funerary objects are present.
In 1965, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals
were removed from the Kettle Falls Railroad Bridge Site (45-FE-38) in
Ferry County, WA. The excavations were initiated by Dr. Sprague in
response to looting activity at the site. No known individuals were
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
Between 1967 and 1985, human remains representing a minimum of 26
individuals were removed from the Freeland Site (45-FE-1) in Ferry
County, WA. No known individuals were identified. The 402 associated
funerary objects are 1 possible quartzite knife fragment or blank, 1
iron bar, 1 piece of splintered and burnt wood, 1 copper or brass
button, 1 pewter button, 2 quartzite knife fragments, 2 copper
bracelets, 3 bone pendants, 3 pieces of fiber cordage, 3 gun flints, 4
olivella shells, 19 shell disk beads with fiber cordage fragments, 54
copper beads, 85 blue glass beads, and 222 dentalia shells.
The Freeland site is a Native American burial ground dating to the
early historic period, based upon the nature of associated funerary
objects and the condition and preservation of the skeletal elements.
The Colville and Lakes Tribes were decimated by smallpox soon after
1800, and the Freeland site has been interpreted as an ``epidemic
burial ground.''
In 1972 and 1978, human remains representing a minimum of two
individuals were removed from the Ksunku Site (45-FE-45) on the
northern end of Hayes Island in Ferry County, WA. Stratigraphic
evidence indicates that these remains date to approximately 2,500 years
B.P. No known individuals were identified. The 34 associated funerary
objects are 1 quartzite knife, 1 black argillite hammer fragment, 13
pieces of non-human bone, and 19 lithic flakes.
In 1974, human remains representing a minimum of 34 individuals
were removed from the Sherman Creek Site (45-FE-51) in Ferry County,
WA. Three human crania from this site were given to Lake Roosevelt
National Recreation Area staff by an unidentified individual. The rest
of the human remains were removed during authorized excavations by Dr.
Roderick Sprague in an effort to protect them from vandalism and theft.
The Sherman Creek site is a pit house
[[Page 51512]]
village and extensive prehistoric cemetery exceeding 1,000 years in
antiquity. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary
objects are present.
In 1980, human remains representing a minimum of one individual
were removed by the Ferry County sheriff from the Katy Creek Site (45-
FE-18), a late prehistoric site in Ferry County, WA. No known
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
In an unknown span of years, human remains representing a minimum
of 23 individuals were removed by park visitors and staff from the
surface of the Nancy Creek Site (45-FE-16), described as ``an
aboriginal camp, burial, and historic site,'' in Ferry County, WA. No
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
In 1985, human remains representing a minimum of three individuals
were removed from the Nancy Creek Site (45-FE-16), in Ferry County, WA.
No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects
are present.
On the basis of the geographical location of the sites within the
Plateau Culture Area, documented burial practices, osteological
evidence as described by archeologists and physical anthropologists,
and the nature of prehistoric and historic artifacts and archeological
sites, the human remains described above are Native American.
Archeological analysis of the sites, anthropological research,
ethnohistorical studies, and tribal oral traditions demonstrate by a
preponderance of the evidence that the Native American human remains
and associated funerary objects represent Plateau Culture Area,
Interior Salish speakers who have continuously occupied the Columbia
River drainage for thousands of years. The six sites are within the
judicially established aboriginal territory of the Confederated Tribes
of the Colville Reservation, Washington. Members of the nearby Spokane
Tribe of the Spokane Reservation, Washington are also Interior Salish
speakers, but their aboriginal territory is to the east, along the
Spokane River and its tributaries.
Officials of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains
described above represent the physical remains of 93 individuals of
Native American ancestry. Officials of Lake Roosevelt National
Recreation Area also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001
(3)(A), the 436 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
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area 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 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 Deborah Bird, superintendent, Lake Roosevelt
National Recreation Area, 1008 Crest Drive, Coulee Dam, WA 99116-0037,
telephone (509) 633-9441, before October 3, 2008. Repatriation of the
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington may proceed after that
date if no additional claimants come forward.
Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area is responsible for
notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation,
Washington that this notice has been published.
Dated: August 11, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-20402 Filed 9-2-08; 8:45 am]
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