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