[Federal Register: March 12, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 47)]
[Notices]
[Page 10764-10765]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12mr09-93]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: Northwest Museum, Whitman
College, Walla Walla, WA
AGENCY: National Park Service.
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. 3003, of the
completion of an inventory of human remains in the possession of the
Northwest Museum (formerly Maxey Museum), Whitman College, Walla Walla,
WA. The human remains were removed from Mason County, WA.
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 Native
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible
for the determinations in this notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Whitman
College and Northwest Museum professional staff in consultation with
representatives of the Skokomish Indian Tribe of the Skokomish
Reservation, Washington.
Sometime between 1874 and 1907, human remains representing a
minimum of four individuals were removed from the vicinity of the
Skokomish Reservation, located in present-day Mason County, WA, by
Reverend Myron Eells, Congregational Missionary. After Rev. Eells
death, the human remains were donated to Whitman College by his wife on
February 15, 1907, (WHIT-E-549, Eells2557; WHIT-X-0011, WHIT-
E-550, Eells 2558; WHIT-E-551, Eells 2559, WHIT-E-
552). No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary
objects are present.
While Rev. Eells did not always indicate cultural affiliation, he
collected mainly from the Skokomish and S'Klallam Tribes. Rev. Eells
occasionally noted tribal affiliations and/or places of origin for
items in the collection. Some of Rev. Eells notes on the human remains
are stated in
[[Page 10765]]
museum records, which identify the human remains as Native American. In
addition, the human remains were determined to be Native American based
on skeletal morphology, as well as on museum records of the
provenience.
The human remains are most likely culturally affiliated with tribes
whose aboriginal lands lie in the Hood River region of the Puget Sound
of northwestern Washington. Anthropological evidence, including
continuities of technology and material culture, indicates continuous
occupation by the Skokomish (also known as Twana) peoples over the last
2,000 years in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. The
historical biography and papers of Rev. Myron Eells, and consultation
evidence with tribal representatives of the Skokomish Indian Tribe of
the Skokomish Reservation, Washington, further support Skokomish
occupation.
Officials of the Northwest Museum, Whitman College have determined
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described
above represent the physical remains of four individuals of Native
American ancestry. Officials of the Northwest Museum, Whitman College
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 Native American human remains and the Skokomish Indian
Tribe of the Skokomish Reservation, Washington.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Brian
Dott, Director, Northwest Museum, Maxey Hall, Whitman College, 345
Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362, telephone (509) 527-5776, before
April 13, 2009. Repatriation of the human remains to the Skokomish
Indian Tribe of the Skokomish Reservation, Washington may proceed after
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
The Northwest Museum, Whitman College is responsible for notifying
the Skokomish Indian Tribe of the Skokomish Reservation, Washington
that this notice has been published.
Dated: February 26, 2009.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-5326 Filed 3-11-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S
http://regulations.justia.com/view/137721/
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Cultural preservation practices are evolving, according to a Colorado panel
Cultural preservation practices are evolving, according to a Colorado panel
By Carol Berry, Today correspondent
Story Published: Mar 9, 2009
Story Updated: Mar 9, 2009
DENVER – Southwestern Colorado is a treasure trove of ancient artifacts that recall a vast, complex Native civilization; “anyplace you go is potentially archaeologically significant,” said Ernest House Jr., executive secretary of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs.
But stringent rules apply to items of cultural or sacred significance and if graves or funerary objects are involved those rules include provisions of the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act or a similar state mandate.
Historical preservation was addressed by House, Bridget Ambler, curator of material culture with the Colorado Historical Society and Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, curator of anthropology with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and NAGPRA officer, at a conference Feb. 5.
The need to respect traditional practices underscored their talk, which dealt not only with NAGPRA, but also with the evolving role of museums as a conduit for repatriation and with the place of aesthetics and the sacred in dealing with objects or places of historical interest.
Ambler said the role of museums has evolved, along with the increased sophistication of tribal attitudes, so while museums were the “sole proprietors” of cultural information, with the implementation of NAGPRA in 1990, “they have had to give up sole proprietorship.”
Nevertheless, to date, tribes have not sought to have cultural or sacred items physically returned to them from the Colorado Historical Society because “tribes have elected for us to hold them in safekeeping,” she said, a practice expected to change as tribes are able to house them.
“Tribes have come to share information about collections,” she said. For example, Burton Pretty On Top, of the Crow Tribe (Apsaalooke Nation), was able to identify a recent item as a contemporary medicine shield rather than as a tourist item. The eagle staff of Colorado’s annual Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run was loaned to the historical society, where we are “just the keepers,” Ambler said.
Photo courtesy Colorado Historical Society
A seed jar from the 1920s by Maria Martinez, Pueblo of San Ildefonso, one of the cultural items in safekeeping at the Colorado Historical Society.
Tribal consultation can create other relationships, she said, citing a Tribal Paths program at the historical society that includes photographs of contemporary Colorado Native residents and a visit with LaForce Lone Bear, a Northern Cheyenne traditional healer, who took her to significant sites near Lame Deer, Mont.
Chanthaphonh, describing the interface of spirituality with objects, talked about a visit with four Hopi cultural advisers to a river in northwestern New Mexico, where the water rose, rumbling and then subsided and the Hopi said of ancestral spirits, “as we are acknowledging them, they are acknowledging us.”
While scholars and archaeologists focus on traditional cultural properties as sites, Natives perceive them as “vital life sources,” he said.
The Hopi have a “living landscape” in which animals, plants and all life are considered sacred, so outsiders may not understand how taking one or two would make any difference. But if that act is considered the equivalent of throwing a stone through just one of many stained glass windows on a church, it may be more readily understood as sacrilege by the majority society.
He said the National Environmental Policy Act’s assessment of environmental impacts on aesthetic values probably comes closest to including a Native perspective, as does the potential impact on a “feeling” aspect of projects or issues under the National Historic Preservation Act.
Dealing more specifically with funerary issues, House said 39 tribes endorsed a state NAGPRA program developed through consultation with about 50 tribes that have called and may continue to call Colorado home. The Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes are the only tribal nations federally recognized as currently residing within the state’s boundaries.
The state/tribal planning effort developed the federally approved program to rebury culturally unidentifiable Native remains discovered on non-federal public and private lands in Colorado.
“The hope is to expedite getting remains in the ground in a respectful and culturally appropriate way,” said House, who is Ute Mountain Ute and whose tribe believes “the spirit is not at peace until it is back in the ground where they belong in a timely manner.”
He said the tribes’ preference is for non-disturbance, including that which could occur in the testing of remains, and for reburial as soon as possible near the discovery site.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/tourism/40961307.html
By Carol Berry, Today correspondent
Story Published: Mar 9, 2009
Story Updated: Mar 9, 2009
DENVER – Southwestern Colorado is a treasure trove of ancient artifacts that recall a vast, complex Native civilization; “anyplace you go is potentially archaeologically significant,” said Ernest House Jr., executive secretary of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs.
But stringent rules apply to items of cultural or sacred significance and if graves or funerary objects are involved those rules include provisions of the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act or a similar state mandate.
Historical preservation was addressed by House, Bridget Ambler, curator of material culture with the Colorado Historical Society and Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, curator of anthropology with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and NAGPRA officer, at a conference Feb. 5.
The need to respect traditional practices underscored their talk, which dealt not only with NAGPRA, but also with the evolving role of museums as a conduit for repatriation and with the place of aesthetics and the sacred in dealing with objects or places of historical interest.
Ambler said the role of museums has evolved, along with the increased sophistication of tribal attitudes, so while museums were the “sole proprietors” of cultural information, with the implementation of NAGPRA in 1990, “they have had to give up sole proprietorship.”
Nevertheless, to date, tribes have not sought to have cultural or sacred items physically returned to them from the Colorado Historical Society because “tribes have elected for us to hold them in safekeeping,” she said, a practice expected to change as tribes are able to house them.
“Tribes have come to share information about collections,” she said. For example, Burton Pretty On Top, of the Crow Tribe (Apsaalooke Nation), was able to identify a recent item as a contemporary medicine shield rather than as a tourist item. The eagle staff of Colorado’s annual Sand Creek Massacre Spiritual Healing Run was loaned to the historical society, where we are “just the keepers,” Ambler said.
Photo courtesy Colorado Historical Society
A seed jar from the 1920s by Maria Martinez, Pueblo of San Ildefonso, one of the cultural items in safekeeping at the Colorado Historical Society.
Tribal consultation can create other relationships, she said, citing a Tribal Paths program at the historical society that includes photographs of contemporary Colorado Native residents and a visit with LaForce Lone Bear, a Northern Cheyenne traditional healer, who took her to significant sites near Lame Deer, Mont.
Chanthaphonh, describing the interface of spirituality with objects, talked about a visit with four Hopi cultural advisers to a river in northwestern New Mexico, where the water rose, rumbling and then subsided and the Hopi said of ancestral spirits, “as we are acknowledging them, they are acknowledging us.”
While scholars and archaeologists focus on traditional cultural properties as sites, Natives perceive them as “vital life sources,” he said.
The Hopi have a “living landscape” in which animals, plants and all life are considered sacred, so outsiders may not understand how taking one or two would make any difference. But if that act is considered the equivalent of throwing a stone through just one of many stained glass windows on a church, it may be more readily understood as sacrilege by the majority society.
He said the National Environmental Policy Act’s assessment of environmental impacts on aesthetic values probably comes closest to including a Native perspective, as does the potential impact on a “feeling” aspect of projects or issues under the National Historic Preservation Act.
Dealing more specifically with funerary issues, House said 39 tribes endorsed a state NAGPRA program developed through consultation with about 50 tribes that have called and may continue to call Colorado home. The Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes are the only tribal nations federally recognized as currently residing within the state’s boundaries.
The state/tribal planning effort developed the federally approved program to rebury culturally unidentifiable Native remains discovered on non-federal public and private lands in Colorado.
“The hope is to expedite getting remains in the ground in a respectful and culturally appropriate way,” said House, who is Ute Mountain Ute and whose tribe believes “the spirit is not at peace until it is back in the ground where they belong in a timely manner.”
He said the tribes’ preference is for non-disturbance, including that which could occur in the testing of remains, and for reburial as soon as possible near the discovery site.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/tourism/40961307.html
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