Notice2023-23549
Notice of Inventory Completion: Washington State University, Museum of Anthropology, Pullman, WA
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 25, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University (WSU Museum of Anthropology) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Asotin County, WA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73360-73361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23549]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036806; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Washington State University,
Museum of Anthropology, Pullman, WA
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Museum of Anthropology at Washington
State University (WSU Museum of Anthropology) has completed an
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human
remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native
Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated
funerary objects were removed from Asotin County, WA.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after November 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Andrew Duff, Acting Director, Museum of Anthropology at
Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4910, telephone (509)
335-3871, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#86e2f3e0e0c6f1f5f3a8e3e2f3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9ffbeaf9f9dfe8eceab1fafbea">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA.
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the
Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including
the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related
records held by the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State
University.
Description
In 1964, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals
were removed from Ten Mile Creek (45AS26), in Asotin County, WA. The
site, which had cairn markers visible on its surface, had been heavily
disturbed by looters. The occurrence of stone cairns, the flexed body
position, and the types of associated funerary objects suggest that
these burials date to the Late Prehistoric Period of about 2000-300
years ago.
The burial site is part of the Ten Mile Creek site complex, which
includes large and small open camp sites, a series of storage pits, a
rock shelter, and a fish wall. Ethnographic, oral traditions, and
historic evidence associates this location with `enetoyn, a Nez Perce
village. Excavations were led by WSU archeologists Charles Nelson and
David Rice during the 1964 Asotin Reservoir Dam Survey under contract
with the US Army Corps of Engineers, who hired WSU to conduct the
survey after Congress authorized construction of the Asotin Dam
Reservoir (Nelson and Rice 1969). While dam construction was later de-
authorized and further work was discontinued, the WSU Museum of
Anthropology has housed Asotin Dam Reservoir Survey collections,
including those from 45AS26.
Three separate burials, numbered 1, 2, and 3, marked with surface
and subsurface stone cairns, were excavated. Each burial contained a
single individual placed in a flexed position. Burial 1 contained the
human remains of an individual about 15 years old whose sex could not
be determined. Red ochre as well as dentalia shell beads, a mussel
shell pendant fragment, and a piece of muscovite mica, were found near
the individual's head. A heavily fragmented cedar wood stake was also
associated with Burial 1. Burial 2 contained the human remains of a
child aged 6-8 years old whose sex could not be determined. The grave
was marked by surface and sub-surface stone cairns. The body was in a
fully flexed position and there were no associated funerary items.
Burial 3 contained the human remains of a child 6-8 years old whose sex
could not be determined. The grave was marked by a surface cairn
containing flecks of charcoal and dentalia shell beads, including one
incised bead. The body was placed in a flexed position. No known
individuals were identified. The eight associated funerary objects
include three lots consisting of dentalia shell beads, one incised
dentalia shell bead, one mussel shell pendant fragment, one lot
consisting of muscovite mica fragments, one lot consisting of cedar
stake fragments, and one lot consisting of charcoal fragments.
Cultural Affiliation
The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes,
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures
and one or more Indian Tribes, which includes the Nez Perce Tribe and
the Nez Perce Band of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Reservation. The following types of information were used to reasonably
trace the relationship: anthropological, archeological, geographical,
historical, and oral traditional.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State
University has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The eight objects described in this notice 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.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary
objects described in this notice and the Confederated Tribes of the
Colville Reservation and the Nez Perce Tribe.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation
may be submitted by:
1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice.
2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal
descendant or
[[Page 73361]]
a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after November 24, 2023.
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Museum of
Anthropology at Washington State University must determine the most
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint
repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects are
considered a single request and not competing requests. The Museum of
Anthropology at Washington State University is responsible for sending
a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, Sec.
10.10, and Sec. 10.14.
Dated: October 18, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-23549 Filed 10-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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