Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Eugene, OR, 89147-89148 [2016-29537]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 237 (Friday, December 9, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 89147-89148]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-29537]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22473; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of 
Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, Eugene, OR

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural 
History, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed 
in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. 
Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request to the University 
of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History. If no additional 
claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items to 
the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations 
stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the University of Oregon Museum 
of Natural and Cultural History, at the address in this notice by 
January 9, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Pamela Endzweig, Director of Collections, University of 
Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, 1224 University of 
Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1224, telephone (541) 346-5120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural 
History, Eugene, OR, that meet the definition of unassociated funerary 
objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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

[[Page 89148]]

agency that has control of the Native American cultural items. The 
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this 
notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    At an unknown date, a group of beads and other cultural items were 
removed from a burial site near Coos County, OR. In 1930, a private 
individual donated the cultural items to the University of Oregon 
Museum of Natural History (now designated as the Museum of Natural And 
Cultural History). According to accessions records, the beads were 
given to the donor by her sister, who ``found them on an old Indian 
grave near Coquille, Oregon.'' The catalog number assigned to this 
entry is attached to a string of 28 glass beads, 1 copper button, 2 
buttons of undetermined material, and 1 perforated disc of ground shell 
or bone. A set of 30 small unstrung and unlabeled seed beads are housed 
with the other items and are considered to be from the same collection.
    Based on the donor's information, the 62 unassociated funerary 
objects described above are determined to be Native American. Based on 
provenience, the cultural items are reasonably believed to be 
affiliated with the Coquille people. Historical documents, ethnographic 
sources, and oral history indicate that Coquille people have occupied 
the Coquille area of coastal Oregon since pre-contact times. The 
Coquille people are represented by the Coquille Indian Tribe 
(previously listed as the Coquille Tribe of Oregon).

Determinations Made by the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and 
Cultural History

    Officials of the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and 
Cultural History have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 62 cultural items 
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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects and the Coquille Indian Tribe (previously 
listed as the Coquille Tribe of Oregon).

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Dr. Pamela Endzweig, Director of 
Collections, University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural 
History, 1224 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1224, telephone 
(541) 346-5120, by January 9, 2017. After that date, if no additional 
claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the unassociated 
funerary objects to the Coquille Indian Tribe (previously listed as the 
Coquille Tribe of Oregon) may proceed.
    The University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History is 
responsible for notifying the Coquille Indian Tribe (previously listed 
as the Coquille Tribe of Oregon); the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, 
Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians; the Confederated Tribes of the Grand 
Ronde Community of Oregon; and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz 
Indians of Oregon (previously listed as the Confederated Tribes of the 
Siletz Reservation) that this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 22, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-29537 Filed 12-8-16; 8:45 am]
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