Notice2023-23554
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, 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
October 25, 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, Bureau of Land Management (BLM Alaska) intends to repatriate certain a cultural item that meets the definition of an unassociated funerary object and that has a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural item was removed from the Nome Census Area, AK.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73363-73364]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23554]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036822; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of
the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, 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, Bureau
of Land Management (BLM Alaska) intends to repatriate certain a
cultural item that meets the definition of an unassociated funerary
object and that has a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or
Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural item was
removed from the Nome Census Area, AK.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or
after November 24, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Robert E. King, Bureau of Land Management, 222 W 7th Avenue,
#13, Anchorage, AK 99513, telephone (907) 271-5510, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#94e6a6fffdfaf3d4f6f8f9baf3fbe2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3547075e5c5b52755759581b525a43">[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 BLM
Alaska. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice. Additional information on the
determinations in this notice, including
[[Page 73364]]
the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related
records held by BLM Alaska.
Description
Most likely in the 1950s or 1960s, one cultural item was removed
from the vicinity of Wales in the Nome Census Area, AK, and was placed
in the collection of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown
University in Providence, RI. (The museum's sponsorship of multiple
expeditions to Alaska in the mid-20th century might account for its
custody of this cultural item.) The one unassociated funerary object is
a polar bear cranium marked ``Polar bear from burial site near Wales.''
Cultural Affiliation
The cultural item in this notice is 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, oral
traditional, and museum records.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, BLM Alaska has determined that:
<bullet> The one cultural item described above 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 and
are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed
from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the cultural item and the Native Village
of Wales.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the cultural item in this
notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in
ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by 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 cultural item in this notice to a requestor may
occur on or after November 24, 2023. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, BLM Alaska must determine the most
appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint
repatriation of this cultural item is considered a single request and
not competing requests. BLM 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 10.8, Sec.
10.10, and Sec. 10.14.
Dated: October 18, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-23554 Filed 10-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on October 25, 2023.
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