FR Doc E7-22669
[Federal Register: November 20, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 223)]
[Notices]
[Page 65354-65355]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20no07-82]
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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 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 65355]]
agency that has control of the cultural items. The National Park
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
The five cultural items are one antler tool; one nose ring or
bracelet; one mortar and pestle; one jar of beads; and one bag of
bells.
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 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 Coos,
Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde Community of Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Siletz
Reservation, Oregon; Coquille Tribe of Oregon; and Santa Rosa Indian
Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California.
On March 17, 1929, V.P. Mitchell removed a "horn implement" from
an unknown site near Yachats, OR. On December 21, 1933, V.P. Mitchell
donated the antler horn implement to the museum and listed as part of
the J. G. Crawford collection. Although the Horner Collection, Oregon
State University has no documentation that the antler tool was ever
buried with any individual, Mr. Crawford is known to have collected
human remains and cultural items from burials and mounds.
On December 21, 1933, V.P. Mitchell donated a nose ring or bracelet
to the museum. Provenience records show that the item was in V.P.
Mitchell's possession in 1929 and is listed as a "Yachats Indian nose
ring." On June 27, 2006, a representative of the Santa Rosa Indian
Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California identified the item
as a bracelet of a young lady or grandmother. On February 11, 2004, a
representative of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Oregon
identified the cultural item as a funerary object from Yachats, OR.
At an unknown date, cultural items were removed by Mrs. P. Mitchell
from an unknown area near Yachats, OR. On April 13, 1968, Mrs. Mitchell
donated one mortar and pestle, one jar of Indian beads, and one bag of
bells, along with a human skull, to the museum. A deed of gift was
submitted, which states "Collection of Indian artifacts found near
Yachats, OR." The Horner Collection, Oregon State University has no
specific documentation that the cultural items were ever buried with
any individual. However, with the inclusion of a human skull donated
with the cultural items, the museum has identified them as unassociated
funerary objects. The human remains are described in a previously
published Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register of
October 26, 2005 (FR Doc 05-21332, pages 61839-61840).
All of the above cultural items were removed from undisclosed
locations near Yachats, OR. According to a tribal representative for
the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, Oregon, the Yachats
area had large middens lining the lower Yachats River and nearby
coastline. Large middens show the extensive time period of occupation
of the Yachats area. The Yachats area was made part of the Siletz/Coast
Reservation when it was established in 1855. This area was inhabited by
the Alsea, Coos, Lower Umpqua, some South Slough and lower Coquille
people, and some members of other tribes also confederated upon the
Siletz Reservation. The Alsea people, as well as others that lived at
Yachats, moved to the Siletz reservation in 1876. Descendants of tribes
from the Yachats area are members of the Confederated Tribes of the
Siletz Reservation, Oregon.
Based on geographic, historic documents, museum and donor history,
and consultation evidence, the Horner Collection, Oregon State
University reasonably believe the cultural items to be unassociated
funerary objects and culturally affiliated with the Confederated Tribes
of the Siletz Reservation, Oregon.
Officials of the Horner Collection, Oregon State University have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the five 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 Siletz Reservation, Oregon.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the 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
December 20, 2007. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to
the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, Oregon may proceed
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
The Horner Collection, Oregon State University is responsible for
notifying the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw
Indians of Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of
Oregon; Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation, Oregon; Coquille
Tribe of Oregon; and Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa
Rancheria, California that this notice has been published.
Dated: October 18, 2007.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-22669 Filed 11-19-07; 8:45 am]
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