Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, Seattle, WA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum (Burke Museum), in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request to the Burke Museum. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES:

Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request with information in support of the claim to the Burke Museum at the address in this notice by April 1, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

Peter Lape, Burke Museum, University of Washington, Box 353010, Seattle, WA 98195, telephone (206) 685-3849, email plape@uw.edu.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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 under the control of the Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 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 agency that has control of the Native American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

In 1990, 23 cultural items were removed from the Sba'badid site (45-KI-51) in King County, WA, during a cultural resource testing program by BOAS, Inc. Human remains were recovered and transferred to the Duwamish Tribe, a non-Federally recognized Indian group, in 1991. The funerary objects were retained by BOAS, Inc., and were received by the Burke Museum in 2003 (Accn. #2003-98). The 23 unassociated funerary objects are three lots of metal fragments, five lots of beads, three lots of ceramic fragments, three stone tools, one nail, one shell fragment, two non-human bone fragments, one lot of cedar wood, one piece of charcoal, one lot of buttons, one penny, and one flake.

Sba'badid was the site of a historic Duwamish village until the mid-19th century (Chatters 1981). The terms of the 1855 Point Elliott Treaty assigned the Duwamish to the Suquamish Reservation (called Fort Kitsap at the time). After 1856, due to violence between whites and Native Americans, as well as the competition over available resources, many Duwamish left the Suquamish Reservation. The Indian agent subsequently assigned the Duwamish to the Muckleshoot reservation. Descendants of the Duwamish people are members of the present-day Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation.

Determinations Made by the Burke Museum

Officials of the Burke Museum have determined that:

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 23 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.
• 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 Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (previously listed as the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of the Muckleshoot Reservation, Washington) and the Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request with information in support of the claim to Peter Lape, Burke Museum, University of Washington, Box 353010, Seattle, WA 98195, telephone (206) 685-3849, email plape@uw.edu, by April 1, 2019. After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary objects to the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (previously listed as the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of the Muckleshoot Reservation, Washington) and the Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation may proceed.

The Burke Museum is responsible for notifying the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (previously listed as the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe of the Muckleshoot Reservation, Washington) and the Suquamish Indian Tribe of the Port Madison Reservation that this notice has been published.