2011-5850. Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

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 a cultural item in the possession of the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University, Pullman, WA, that meets the definition of unassociated funerary object 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 item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

In 2005, a copper pendant was given to the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University for intended repatriation by Whitney and Mariana Sue Johnson of Charlotte, MI. Attached to it was a card with a handwritten label reading “Copper pendant from Indian Burial No. 195. Zimmerman. Snake River 5 mi east of Riparia Columbia Co. Wash.” They acquired the item through inheritance from Mr. Johnson's grandfather, Ralph Hunter, who they believe purchased the item while traveling through the area between the 1920s and 1940s. The pendant is similar in style to other pendants often found in protohistoric period graves (A.D. 1700-1900) on the southern Plateau.

Zimmerman was a railroad siding that was located between Riparia and Lyons ferries, which are less than 10 river miles apart. The area is within the overlapping 19th century territories of the Nez Perce and Palus (Sprague 1998; Walker 1998). Descendants of these communities are members of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho; and the Wanapum Band, a non-federally recognized Indian group.

Officials of the Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the one cultural item described above is 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 is believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native American individual. Officials of the Museum of Anthropology at Washington 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 object and the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho; and the Wanapum Band, a non-federally recognized Indian group.

Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary object should contact Mary Collins, WSU Museum of Anthropology, P.O. Box 644910, Pullman, WA 99164, telephone [phone], before April 14, 2011. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary object to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho; and the Wanapum Band, a non-federally recognized Indian group, may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.

The Museum of Anthropology at Washington State University is responsible for notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Washington; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon; Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Washington; Nez Perce Tribe, Idaho; and the Wanapum Band, a non-federally recognized Indian group, that this notice has been published.

Dated: March 9, 2011.

Sherry Hutt,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.