Notice2023-08053
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region, Anchorage, AK
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Published
April 17, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region (FWS Alaska) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects with assistance from the University of Alaska Museum of the North and the Museum of the Aleutians, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from archeological sites on Kagamil, Carlisle, and Ship Rock Islands in the Aleutians West Census Area, AK.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 73 (Monday, April 17, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 73 (Monday, April 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23462-23463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08053]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035613; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region, Anchorage, AK
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish
and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region (FWS Alaska) has completed an
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects with
assistance from the University of Alaska Museum of the North and the
Museum of the Aleutians, and has determined that there is a cultural
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects
and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from
archeological sites on Kagamil, Carlisle, and Ship Rock Islands in the
Aleutians West Census Area, AK.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after May 17, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Jeremy M. Karchut, Regional Archeologist/Regional Historic
Preservation Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 E Tudor
Road, MS-235, Anchorage, AK 99503, telephone (907) 786-3399, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1d77786f78706442767c6f7e7568695d7b6a6e337a726b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ef858a9d8a8296b0848e9d8c879a9baf89989cc1888099">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA.
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of FWS
Alaska. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice. Additional information on the
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation,
can be found in the inventory or related records held by FWS Alaska.
Description
Kagamil Island, Warm Cave
In 1948 or 1949, during an expedition led by physical
anthropologist William S. Laughlin, 18 associated funerary objects were
removed from Warm Cave on Kagamil Island. In 2017, the Peabody Museum
of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA,
transferred these associated funerary objects to the University of
Alaska Museum in Fairbanks, AK. The 18 associated funerary objects
include four woven fiber mats, two wood tools, five pieces of work
wood, one unworked piece of wood, two ground stone knife fragments, two
wood panels, one abrader, and one soil sample.
Kagamil Island
Between 1947 and 1950, ethno-botanist Theodore P. Bank II and
physical anthropologist William S. Laughlin removed human remains
representing, at minimum, nine individuals from an unknown site--likely
Cold Cave, Warm Cave, or Mask Cave--on Kagamil Island. Initially, these
human remains and associated funerary objects were stored at the
University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology in Ann Arbor, MI. In
1982, they were transferred to the University of Alaska Museum in
Fairbanks, AK, and in 2002, they were transferred to the Museum of the
Aleutians in Unalaska, AK. Following additional transfers, physical
custody is of the human remains is currently split between the
University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks and the Museum of the
Aleutians in Unalaska. These human remains belong to seven adults and
two juveniles. No known individuals were identified. The 44 associated
funerary objects are one awl, one bone fish hook shank, one bone
foreshaft, one bone labret, one bone object, one bone point, two pieces
of cordage, one flora sample, one grass bundle, one ivory labret, one
ivory object, one kayak part, one matting and cordage lot, three
matting bundles, 19 matting fragments, one pumice sample, one lot of
slides, one skin/hide fragment, three soil samples, one wood object,
and one wood shaft fragment.
In 1936, Olaus Murie removed human remains representing, at
minimum, three individuals from ``Mummy Cave''--likely Cold Cave, Warm
Cave, or Mask Cave--on Kagamil Island. In 1973, Adolph Murie (Olaus'
brother) and his wife Louise donated a collection amassed by Olaus and
his wife Margaret to the Teton Science Schools, in Northwest Wyoming
and Idaho, which included these human remains. In November of 2021, the
human remains were found in the ``Murie Museum closet,'' and in August
of 2022, they were transferred to the University of Alaska Museum in
Fairbanks. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary
objects are present.
In 1938, William S. Laughlin removed 51 associated funerary objects
from a cave --likely Cold Cave, Warm Cave, or Mask Cave--on Kagamil
Island. Over the years, the Laughlin family donated these objects to
the Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska. The 51 associated funerary
objects are one awl, four bifaces, three bone points, one bone wedge,
one bundle of fiber/plant material, three pieces of cordage, two
bundles of cordage, one ear bone, one flake tool, two foreshafts, two
beads, one ground stone, one incised stone, one matting fragment, two
lots of mixed fiber fragments, one piece of mold, one otter tooth, one
pointed bone implement, four PPKs, four scrapers, two sea lion teeth,
one seal tooth, one sealskin strap with fur, three ulus, one whale
tooth, five worked bones, and one woven bag fragment.
In 1941, Malcolm Greany removed nine associated funerary objects
from a cave --likely Cold Cave, Warm Cave, or Mask Cave--on Kagamil
Island. In 1942, Greany gave these objects to the Alaska State Museum
in Juneau, and in 2022, they were transferred to the Museum of the
Aleutians in Unalaska. The nine associated funerary objects are nine
grass mat fragments.
Ship Rock Island
At an unknown date, an unknown individual removed 11 associated
funerary objects from Ship Rock Cave on Ship Rock Island, located in
Umnak Strait between Umnak Island and Unalaska Island. (Possibly,
Ale[scaron] Hrdli[ccaron]ka removed these objects in 1937 and 1938.)
Currently, the objects are housed at the Museum of the Aleutians in
Unalaska. The 11 associated funerary objects are eight kayak parts, one
wood vessel, one wood vessel bottom, and one wood shaft fragment.
[[Page 23463]]
Kagamil Island and Ship Rock Island
At an unknown date, an unknown individual removed nine associated
funerary objects from a site--likely Cold Cave, Warm Cave, or Mask
Cave--on Kagamil Island and from Ship Rock Cave on Ship Rock Island.
(Possibly, Ale[scaron] Hrdli[ccaron]ka removed these objects in 1937
and 1938.) The objects were housed at the Burke Museum in Seattle, WA,
until 2016, when they were transferred to the University of Alaska
Museum of the North. All nine associated funerary objects--seven from
Kagamil Island and two from Ship Rock Island--are matting fragments.
Carlisle Island
In 1948 or 1949, physical anthropologist William S. Laughlin
removed human remains representing, at minimum, one individual and six
associated funerary objects from Carlisle Island. In 2019, the Peabody
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University transferred
these remains and objects to the University of Alaska Museum in
Fairbanks. The human remains belong to a juvenile individual. No known
individual was identified. The six associated funerary objects are one
pumice ground stone, two clam shells, one stone pallet, one matting
fragment, and one worked bone.
Cultural Affiliation
The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes,
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the
relationship: anthropological, archeological, geographical, biological,
historical, oral traditional, and expert opinion
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, FWS Alaska have determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 13 individuals of Alaska Native ancestry.
<bullet> The 148 objects described in this notice 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.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary
objects described in this notice and the Native Village of Nikolski.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation
may be submitted by:
1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice.
2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after May 17, 2023. If
competing requests for repatriation are received, FWS Alaska must
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation.
Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated
funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing
requests. FWS Alaska is responsible for sending a copy of this notice
to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10,
and 10.14.
Dated: March 29, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-08053 Filed 4-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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