Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Horner Collection, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 49481-49482 [E8-19332]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 163 (Thursday, August 21, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49481-49482]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-19332]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Horner Collection, 
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Horner 
Collection, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, that meets the 
definition of ``unassociated funerary objects'' and[sol]or ``objects of 
cultural patrimony'' 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 agency that has control of the cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    The 63 cultural items are 9 gaming balls, 2 pestles, 1 shot glass, 
7 menhirs (monoliths), 1 bone paddle, 28 projectile points, 1 drill, 1 
drill fragment, 2 knives, 6 bean-shaped stones, 1 mortar, 1 net weight, 
1 obsidian nodule, 1 mill stone, and 1 hammerstone.
    The Museum of Oregon Country, Oregon Agricultural College was 
renamed the John B. Horner Museum of the Oregon Country in 1936, and 
became commonly known as the Horner Museum. The Oregon Agricultural 
College was renamed the Oregon State College in 1937, and became Oregon 
State University in 1962. The Horner Museum closed in 1995. Currently, 
cultural items from the Horner Museum are referred to as the Horner 
Collection, which is owned by, and in the possession of, Oregon State 
University.
    Horner Collection, Oregon State University professional staff 
consulted with representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand 
Ronde Community of Oregon and Confederated Tribes of the Siletz 
Reservation, Oregon.
    In the 1920s, cultural items were found in a subterranean circle of 
vertical columns (a henge) near Salem, Marion County, OR, by an unknown 
person. Museum records have attributed the site as ``from the Phallic 
Temple near Salem.'' In 1981, the six menhirs were donated to the 
Horner Museum by the heirs of J.L. Hills. At an unknown date, a single 
menhir was found by an unknown person. Museum records state that it was 
probably found in Marion County, OR. In 1985, this menhir was donated 
to the Horner Museum by Phil Green. The seven menhirs are stone items 
that have a phallic form and is possible they represent part of the 
``Phallic Temple.''
    In 1933, six bean shaped stones found, at an unknown time by an 
unknown person, at the ``Phallic Temple'' near Salem, Marion County, 
OR, were brought to the Horner Museum by either Mr. Harralson or J.G. 
Crawford. These cultural items are closely related to menhirs.
    Menhirs marked areas of special significance that continue to have 
on-going significance to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde 
Community of Oregon. The 13 cultural items are objects of cultural 
patrimony and could not be alienated by any one tribal member.
    Salem, Marion County, OR, is in the traditional territory of the 
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and was 
ceded by the Treaty with the Kalapuya made and concluded in Dayton, 
Oregon Territory on January 10, 1855. Joel Palmer, Superintendent of 
Indian Affairs, established a temporary camp on the south fork of the 
Yamhill River (Grand Ronde) in January 1856 and this is where the 
Umpquas, Kalapuyas, and Molallas resided. By 1857, an executive order 
established Grand Ronde as a permanent reservation. The Horner 
Collection, Oregon State University has no evidence the items were ever 
buried with any individual. However, Mr. Crawford and Mr. Hill were 
known to have collected human remains and cultural items from burials 
and mounds. Based on the history of the collectors, consultation 
evidence, and museum records, the Horner Collection, Oregon State 
University reasonably believes the cultural items are objects of 
cultural patrimony and unassociated funerary objects.
    At an unknown date, cultural items were found in the Kalapuya 
mounds in Linn County, OR, by an unknown person. In 1933, the cultural 
items were brought to the Horner Museum by J.G. Crawford and G.W. 
Wright and were accessioned into the Horner Collection in 1958. The 15 
cultural items are 9 gaming balls, 1 pestle, 1 mortar, 1 net weight, 1 
obsidian nodule, 1 mill stone, and 1 hammerstone.
    At an unknown date, one cultural item was found in Olings mounds on 
the Kalapuya River, Linn County, OR, by an unknown person. In 1981, the 
cultural item was donated to the Horner Musuem by the heirs of J.L. 
Hill. The cultural item is a bone paddle.
    At an unknown date, one cultural item was found in the Davis mound 
in the Willamette Valley, OR, by an unknown person. In 1919, the 
cultural item was donated to the Horner Museum by Ward G. Sinclair. The 
one cultural item is a pestle.
    At an unknown date, cultural items were found by an unknown person. 
Museum records are unclear if all or only part of these cultural items 
were found in the Kalapuya mounds, Linn County, OR. In 1954, the 
cultural items were donated to the Horner Collection by Dr. A.G. Prill. 
The 32 cultural items are 28 projectile points, 1 drill, 1 drill 
fragment, and 2 knives
    The Willamette Valley and Linn County (which is a part of the 
Willamette Valley) is the traditional territory of the Confederated 
Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community and is part of the area ceded by 
the 1855 Kalapuya treaty. Museum records state these items came from 
mounds and Mr. Crawford, Mr. Hill, Mr. Sinclair, Mr. Wright, and Dr. 
Prill are known to have collected cultural items from burials and 
mounds. Based on the history of the collectors, consultation evidence, 
and museum records, the Horner Collection, Oregon State University 
reasonably believes the cultural items are unassociated funerary 
objects.

[[Page 49482]]

    In 1916, a shot glass was ``found in an Indian grave at Westport,'' 
Clatsop County, OR, probably by Miss Frida Flood who gifted the 
cultural item to the Horner Collection in 1929. Museum records clearly 
state this object was taken from a grave, but there is no indication 
that the remains were exhumed. Officials of the Horner Collection, 
Oregon State University reasonably believe this item is an unassociated 
funerary object.
    Westport is in Clatsop County, OR, which is in the traditional 
territory of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of 
Oregon. The Clatsop, Nehalem, Tillamook, Nestucca, Neachesna (Salmon 
River Tillamook), and Siletz Band of Tillamook were all parties to the 
1855 Coast Treaty. The treaty was never ratified and the northern 
Oregon coastal bands were not forced to remove to the Siletz 
Reservation as stipulated in the treaty. The Grand Ronde Indian Agent, 
in 1872, includes the Clatsop as one of the tribes living on the Grand 
Ronde Reservation.
    Officials of the Horner Collection, Oregon State University have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 63 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. Officials of the Horner Collection, Oregon 
State University 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 unassociated funerary objects and the 
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon.
    Officials of the Horner Collection, Oregon State University have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(D), 13 of the cultural 
items described above have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural 
importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, 
rather than property owned by an individual. Officials of the Horner 
Collection, Oregon State University 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 objects of cultural patrimony 
and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the objects of cultural patrimony and/or 
unassociated funerary objects should contact Sabah Randhawa, Executive 
Vice President and Provost, President's Office, Oregon State 
University, 600 Kerr Administration Building, Corvallis, OR 97331, 
telephone (541) 737-8260, before September 22, 2008. Repatriation of 
the objects of cultural patrimony and unassociated funerary objects to 
the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Horner Collection, Oregon State University is responsible for 
notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of 
Oregon and Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, Oregon that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 14, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-19332 Filed 8-20-08; 8:45 am]
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