FR Doc E8-20110[Federal Register: August 29, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 169)]
[Notices]
[Page 50991-50992]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29au08-108]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: Central Washington University,
Department of Anthropology, Ellensburg 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
[[Page 50992]]
(NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human
remains in the possession of Central Washington University, Department
of Anthropology, Ellensburg, WA. The human remains were removed from
Umatilla 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).
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.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Central
Washington University, Department of Anthropology professional staff in
consultation with representatives of 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; and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon.
In 1949, human remains representing a minimum of one individual
were removed from site 35-UM-20, on the Techumtas Island in the
Columbia River, Umatilla County, OR, by the Smithsonian River Basin
Survey under the direction of Dr. Douglas Osborne. Site 35-UM-20 was
one of eight sites tested during the summer of 1949. In 1974, the
Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum (Burke Museum),
University of Washington, Seattle, WA, legally transferred the human
remains to Central Washington University, Department of Anthropology.
No known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
Roger Heglar, a University of Washington graduate student,
conducted extensive osteometric analysis of human remains at the Burke
Museum for his 1957 Master's Thesis, "A Racial Analysis of Indian
Skeletal Material from the Columbia River Valley." Dr. Osborne
provided some of the skeletal remains for the analysis. Heglar
identified one individual as "35-UM-20 Burial 2 from Cold Springs,
Oregon (north)." Measurements recorded by Central Washington
University, Department of Anthropology physical anthropologist match
Heglar's measurements of the 35-UM-20 Burial 2.
Early and late ethnographic sources identify the area around
Techumtas Island and Cold Springs as territory of the Cayuse, Walla
Walla, and Umatilla tribes (Hale 1841; Stern 1998; Ray 1936). The
Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla were separate tribes prior to the
treaty of June 9, 1855, but were removed to the Umatilla Reservation
under the terms of the Walla Walla Treaty. The three tribes were
officially confederated in 1949.
The Cold Springs area was heavily utilized by the Umatilla,
including the spring and summer camp, tu'woyepa, on the Oregon side of
the Columbia River, between Umatilla and Cold Springs (Ray 1936). The
area north of Cold Springs, including Techumtas Island, is within the
aboriginal territory of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, Oregon, as determined by the Indian Claims Commission.
The human remains have been determined to be Native American based
on geographic, historical, and osteological evidence, and culturally
affiliated to the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, Oregon.
Officials of the Central Washington University, Department of
Anthropology have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10),
the human remains described above represent the physical remains of one
individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Central
Washington University Department of Anthropology 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 Native
American human remains and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation, Oregon.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Lourdes
Henebry-DeLeon, NAGPRA Program Director, Central Washington University,
Department of Anthropology, 400 East University Way, Ellensburg, WA
98926-7544, telephone (509) 963-2671, before September 29, 2008.
Repatriation of the human remains to the Confederated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon may proceed after that date if no
additional claimants come forward.
The Central Washington University, Department of Anthropology is
responsible for notifying 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; and Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation of Oregon that this notice has been published.
Dated: August 6, 2008.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-20110 Filed 8-28-08; 8:45 am]
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