2024-18674. Notice of Inventory Completion: Western Washington University, Department of Anthropology, Bellingham, WA

Document Headings

Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following:

1. the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document
2. the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to
3. the agency docket number / agency internal file number
4. the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions

See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details.

Department of the Interior

National Park Service

1. [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038515; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Western Washington University (WWU) 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 45-SJ-506, in San Juan County, WA.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after September 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Dr. Judith Pine, Western Washington University, Department of Anthropology, Arntzen Hall 340, 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

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 WWU, 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

Based on the information available, human remains representing, at least, one individual have been identified. The two associated funerary objects are level bags (lots) containing small bone, shell, and wood fragments that appear to be excavated burial matrix.

The human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice were removed from 45-SJ-506, east of Jones Bay, Lopez Island in San Juan County, WA. In 1953, Dr. Herbert Taylor and Western Washington State College's field school excavated the burial from private property at the request of the property owners, George and Ethel Falk. George Falk and his son Richard were digging a house foundation and exposed a portion of the burial. Richard was a former student of Dr. Taylor, and the Falks asked Taylor to excavate the burial. This location has since been recorded as 45-SJ-506. No known individuals were identified. No hazardous chemicals are known to have been used to treat the human remains while in the custody of WWU.

The human remains 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 or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological information, archaeological information, geographical information, historical information, and oral tradition.

Cultural Affiliation

Based on the information available and the results of consultation, cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice.

Determinations

The WWU has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
• The two objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
• There is a connection between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Lummi Tribe of the Lummi Reservation and the Samish Indian Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated 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. ( print page 67664)

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after September 20, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the WWU 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 WWU is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

Dated: August 7, 2024.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.