Notice2021-15566
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, Anchorage, AK
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 22, 2021
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office (BLM) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the BLM. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 138 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 138 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38754-38755]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15566]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0032323; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, Anchorage, AK
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, Alaska State Office (BLM) has completed an inventory of
human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the
appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human
remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes
or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives
of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in
this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human
remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request
to the BLM. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects 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
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in
support of the request to the BLM at the address in this notice by
August 23, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert E. King, Bureau of Land
Management, Alaska State Office, 222 W 7th Avenue, #13, Anchorage, AK
99513, telephone (907) 271-5510, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f280c0999b9c95b2909e9fdc959d84"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="087a3a6361666f486a6465266f677e">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 and
associated funerary objects under the control of the U.S. Department of
the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office,
Anchorage, AK. The human remains and associated funerary objects were
removed from Unalaska Island and Amaknak Island in the Eastern Aleutian
Islands, AK.
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 and associated funerary objects. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Consultation
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the BLM with
the help of the University of Alaska Museum of the North professional
staff in consultation with representatives of the Qawalangin Tribe of
Unalaska.
History and Description of the Remains
In 1948, human remains representing at minimum, one individual were
removed from the Chernofski site on Unalaska Island, Eastern Aleutian
Islands, AK. The work was done as part of the Harvard Peabody Museum's
Aleutian Expedition of 1948, led by Harvard University graduate student
William S. Laughlin. The Harvard Peabody Museum felt it had
authorization for the work under a contract to partially fund the 1948
Expedition, but it obtained an Antiquities Act Permit for work during a
second season in 1949, due to uncertainty about the authorization for
the 1948 work. The human remains of the one individual removed in 1948
were accessioned by the Harvard Peabody Museum, where they remained
until 2017, when they were transferred to the Bureau of Land Management
in Alaska and placed in their current location at the University of
Alaska Museum of the North. The human remains consist of a single
mandible from an adult of unknown sex. No known individual was
identified. The one associated funerary object is the fragment of a
ground stone lamp.
The site is more than 200 years old; its actual age unknown. The
stone lamp fragment is consistent with items found in other
archeological sites more than 200 years old in the Eastern Aleutian
Islands. Based on genetic studies as well as a continuity in artifact
styles, scientists view the current aboriginal Unangan population of
the Eastern Aleutian Islands as direct descendants of the people who
first came to the region 9,000 or more years ago and were never
replaced by any other people. This view is consistent with oral
traditional information provided by today's Unangan people.
In 1950, human remains representing at minimum, five individuals
were removed from the Eider Point Site on Unalaska Island, Eastern
Aleutian Islands, AK. That same year, human remains representing one
individual were removed from the Amaknak Burial Site on Amaknak Island,
near Unalaska Island. Both removals were carried out by Ted P. Bank II,
of the University of Michigan, under a Federal permit. Initially, the
human remains were placed at the University of Michigan. Around the
late 1990s, these six sets of human remains were moved to the Museum of
the Aleutians, Unalaska, Alaska. Until 2018, the human remains were
believed to be under the control of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS). Accordingly, FWS moved the remains from the Museum of the
[[Page 38755]]
Aleutians to Anchorage, Alaska sometime prior to 2012. In 2018, when
the human remains were transferred to the Bureau of Land Management in
Anchorage, AK, the BLM placed them at the University Museum of the
North, Fairbanks, AK, where they are currently located. The human
remains for each of the six individuals vary as to completeness with
none more than 10-15% complete. One individual is represented by a
single mandible. The others are represented predominately by smaller
bones, including some complete or fragmentary vertebrae, ribs, ulnas,
femurs, metatarsals, and tibias. Some of the six individuals are also
represented by innominate fragments, one pubis, one sacrum, and one
scapula. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary
objects are present.
The remains of the six individuals removed from the Eider Point
Site and the Amaknak Burial Site are all over 200 years old; their
actual age is unknown. The connection between the remains of these six
individuals and today's Unangan people is based on the above cited
information.
Sometime between the late 1940s and late 1970s, human remains
representing, at minimum, four individuals were removed from an unknown
site on Amaknak Island by William Laughlin who, during these years, was
associated variously with several universities. These four sets of
human remains were found at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology
at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. They had been placed
there at an unknown date due to Laughlin's collaboration on Eastern
Aleutian archeological work with Ted P. Bank II of the University of
Michigan. The four individuals are represented by 13 teeth and a single
long bone fragment. The four individuals include three adults and one
subadult, all of unknown sex. No known individuals were identified. No
associated funerary objects are present.
The remains of the four individuals removed from Amaknak Island are
all over 200 years old; their actual age is unknown. The connection
between the remains of these six individuals and today's Unangan people
is based on the above cited information.
Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of
Land Management, Alaska State Office
Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, Alaska State Office have determined that:
<bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described
in this notice represent the physical remains of 11 individuals of
Native American ancestry.
<bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the one object described
in this notice is 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.
<bullet> 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 associated funerary object and the
Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated
funerary object should submit a written request with information in
support of the request to Robert E. King, Bureau of Land Management,
Alaska State Office, 222 W 7th Avenue, #13, Anchorage, AK 99513,
telephone (907) 271-5510, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b0c282dbd9ded7f0d2dcdd9ed7dfc6"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2557174e4c4b42654749480b424a53">[email protected]</span></a>, by August 23, 2021.
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward,
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary object
to the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska may proceed.
The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management,
Alaska State Office is responsible for notifying the Qawalangin Tribe
of Unalaska that this notice has been published.
Dated: July 14, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-15566 Filed 7-21-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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