Human Remains Report2010 Cultural Resource Planning Summit

Guy L. Tasa, Ph.D.State Physical Anthropologist

Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation

Non-Forensic Human Remains

(8/08-06/10)128 - Human Skeletal Remains Cases Opened

(representing at least 187 Individuals)

78 - Open Cases

50 - Closed

Anticipate around 70 cases/year

Averages about 1 case/3 DAHP business days

Open Cases (78 Cases)

• 13 - Awaiting Jurisdiction (Law Enforcement, Medical Examiners/Coroners, Proposed Archaeological Work)

• 33 - DAHP Notification, Determination, and Repatriation Process

• 14 - Non-Indian remains awaiting disposition

• 18 - Held at DAHP at the request of interested affected tribes until repatriation

Closed Cases (50 Cases)

• 28 - repatriated to 18 tribes (Chinook, Colville, Cowlitz, Grand Ronde, Jamestown S’Klallam, Lower Elwha, Lummi, Muckleshoot, Nez Perce, Nisqually, Puyallup, Samish, Shoalwater Bay, Steilacoom, Suquamish, Tulalip, Wanapum, Warm Springs, Yakama)

• 9 - reburied/left in place

• 6 - fell under federal jurisdiction and NAGPRA

• 3 - cases returned to law/ME/Coroner for forensic investigation

• 3 - the remains could not be located (former law/ME/Coroner cases)

• 1 - remains were not human

Human Remains Case Load

10 10

1920

16

9

19

8

16

0

5

10

15

20

25

Jul-S

ep 0

8

Oct-D

ec 08

Jan-

Mar

09

Apr-Jun 0

9

Jul-S

ep 0

9

Oct-D

ec 09

Jan-

Mar

10

Apr-Jun 1

0

Awat

ing Ju

risdic

tion

Cas

es R

ecei

ved

Initial Reporting Agency

72

16

11 10 9 8

2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Sher/C

or/ME

Tribe

Muse

umSta

te

Archae

ologist

Feder

al

Privat

e Par

ty

Cas

es

Finding Type

● Previous Find (Law Enforcement/ME/Coroner) – 53%

● New Inadvertent Find (Construction Activity) – 20%

● New Find (Law Enforcement/ME/Coroner) – 17%

● Eroding – 8%

● Pending Archaeological Work – 2%

68

2522

10

3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Previous Find Inadvertent Find New Find Eroding Pending

Cas

es

Ethnic Determination

Indian - 72%Non-Indian – 18%Indeterminate – 6%Forensic – 3%Non-Human – 1%

74

19

63

10

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Indian Non-Indian Indeterminate Forensic Non-Human

Ind

ivid

ual

s

88% of the cases originate from Washington

Other States (9%): Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, SW US

Reported Origin of Remains

112

11

2 1 1 10

20

40

60

80

100

120

Washington Other States Mexico Peru Canada India

Cas

es

Notification Letters Sentto Tribal Chairs (8/08-6/09)

672 – “Non-Forensic Remains Reported” Letters* – 41 Tribes

670 – “Indian/Non-Indian” Letters* – 41 Tribes

123 – Repatriation Letters – 18 Tribes

1465 – Total Number of Notification Letters to Tribal Chairs

Avg. 4 tribal chair letters/DAHP Business Day*

Avg. 12 cultural resource department letters/DAHP Business Day

* Sent via certified mail as required under RCWs (68.50.645, 27.44.055, and 68.60.055)

Tribal Chair Notification Letters

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

Jul-S

ep 0

8

Oct-D

ec 08

Jan-

Mar

09

Apr-Jun 0

9

Jul-S

ep 0

9

Oct-D

ec 09

Jan-

Mar

10

Apr-Jun 1

0

Let

ter

No

tifi

cati

on

s

Repatriation

Indian/Non-Indian

Nonforensic

Tribes Notified (Cases)Chehalis (9)

Chinook (8)

Couer d’Alene (1)

Colville (11)

Cowlitz (11)

Duwamish (27)

Grand Ronde (9)

Hoh River (1)

Jamestown (7)

Kikiallus (1)

Lower Elwha (7)

Lummi (19)

Makah (3)

Marietta Band (7)

Muckleshoot (35)

Nez Perce (15)

Nisqually (6)

Nooksack (10)

Port Gamble (10)

Puyallup (83)

Quileute (3)

Quinault (7)

Samish (28)

Sauk-Suiattle (2)

Shoalwater (5)

Siletz (6)

Skokomish (2)

Snohomish (7)

Snoqualmie (53)

Snoqualmoo (1)

Spokane (3)

Squaxin (38)

Steilacoom (5)

Suquamish (41)

Swinomish (24)

Tulalip (32)

Umatilla (14)

Upper Skagit (18)

Wanapum (12)

Warm Springs (10)

Yakama (84)

Days to Complete Non-Forensic Letter(2 Day Statutory Requirement)

Aug 08 – Jun 10n = 98 casesMean = 5.1 days

All Inadvertent Finds Meet or Exceed Statutory Reporting Requirements

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36Days

Cas

es

Avg. Number of Days to Complete Non-Forensic Letter to Tribal Chairs (2 day

statutory requirement)

Data Broken Down by Quarter

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Jul-S

ep 0

8

Oct-D

ec 08

Jan-

Mar

09

Apr-Jun 0

9

Jul-S

ep 0

9

Oct-D

ec 09

Jan-

Mar

10

Apr-Jun 1

0

Avg

. N

um

ber

of

Day

s

Days to Complete Indian/Non-Indian Letter(2 – 4 Day Statutory Requirement)

Aug 08 – Jun 10n = 92 CasesMean = 12.4 days

All Inadvertent Finds Meet or Exceed Statutory Notification Requirements

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71

Days

Cas

es

Avg. Number of Days to Complete Indian/Non-Indian Letter (2 – 4 day statutory

requirement)

Data Broken Down by Quarter

0

5

10

15

20

25

Jul-S

ep 0

8

Oct-D

ec 08

Jan-

Mar

09

Apr-Jun 0

9

Jul-S

ep 0

9

Oct-D

ec 09

Jan-

Mar

10

Apr-Jun 1

0

Avg

. N

um

ber

of

Day

s

Days to Complete Repatriation Letters(no statutory requirement)

Aug 08 – Aug 09N = 50 casesMean = 22 Days

0

1

2

3

4

5

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55

Days

Cas

es

Avg. Number of Days to Complete Repatriation Letter (no statutory

requirement)

Data Broken Down by Quarter

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Jul-S

ep 0

8

Oct-D

ec 08

Jan-

Mar

09

Apr-Jun 0

9

Jul-S

ep 0

9

Oct-D

ec 09

Jan-

Mar

10

Apr-Jun 1

0

Avg

. N

um

ber

of

Day

s