Notice2025-23373
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Eugene, OR
Primary source
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Published
December 19, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History 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 the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59553-59554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23373]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6794; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041565; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Oregon Museum of
Natural and Cultural History, Eugene, OR
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 University of Oregon Museum of Natural
and Cultural History 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 the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after January 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Pamela Endzweig,
University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, 1224
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1224, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#167378726c61737f71566379647371797838737263"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5a3f343e202d3f333d1a2f35283f3d3534743f3e2f">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the
[[Page 59554]]
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA.
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the
University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, and
additional information on the determinations in this notice, including
the results of consultation, can be found in its inventory or related
records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, 16 individuals have been
identified. Skeletal analyses indicate that the generally fragmentary
remains include seven adult males, three adult females, one young adult
female, two adults of indeterminate sex, one adolescent female, one
child, and one infant. No known individuals were identified. The 23
associated funerary objects include 18 pine nut beads, and five worked
antler artifacts. An additional stone projectile point tip is embedded
in the sternum of one individual. Although more burial-associated
objects were collected by the donor, only part of his collection was
donated to the Museum.
The human remains and artifacts were removed in the early 1940s by
W.T. Edmundson and William Laughlin from Khustenate, also known as
35CU157, an Athabaskan village and burial site in Curry County, OR,
formerly on private land and now within current Samuel H. Boardman
State Park. They were donated by Edmundsen, a private individual, and
accessioned in 1947. Laughlin was that time a professor at the
University of Oregon. Upon leaving the University in 1955, Laughlin
removed some Khustenate remains to subsequent institutions he was
employed at, resulting in the dispersal of the collection.
The village at Khustenate was reported in 1874 by Paul Schumacher,
who observed housepits, a cemetery, and an extensive midden. Subsequent
radiocarbon dating of shell samples from the reposited midden yielded
dates of 450<plus-minus>70 RYBP and 320<plus-minus>60 RYBP. The
assemblage and presence of Euroamerican trade items confirms that the
site was used in Late Prehistoric and Early Historic times. Historical
Documents, ethnographic sources, oral history, and Native American
traditional knowledge indicate that the Tututni people have occupied
this area of the southern Oregon coast since pre-contact times.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains and associated
funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History has
determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of at least 16 individuals of Native American
ancestry.
<bullet> The 23 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 connection between the human remains and
funerary objects described in this notice and the Confederated Tribes
of Siletz Indians of Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde
Community of Oregon; Coquille Indian Tribe; Elk Valley Rancheria,
California; and the Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and funerary
objects in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative
identified in this notice under 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains and funerary objects described in
this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January 20, 2026. If
competing requests for repatriation are received, the University of
Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History must determine the most
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint
repatriation of the human remains and funerary objects are considered a
single request and not competing requests. The University of Oregon
Museum of Natural and Cultural History is responsible for sending a
copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice and any other consulting
parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: December 8, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23373 Filed 12-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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