Notice of Inventory Completion: Washington State University, Museum of Anthropology, Pullman, WA, 73360-73361 [2023-23549]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73360-73361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[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 [email protected].

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:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     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.
     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]
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