Notice2024-20290
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, Anchorage, AK
Primary source
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Published
September 10, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office (BLM Alaska) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, presently located at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum), 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 cultural items, and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations indicated in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 175 (Tuesday, September 10, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 175 (Tuesday, September 10, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 73440]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20290]
[[Page 73440]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038655; 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: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State
Office (BLM Alaska) has completed an inventory of human remains and
associated funerary objects, presently located at the University of
Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum), 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 cultural items, and present-day Indian
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations indicated in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after October 10, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Robin O. Mills, Bureau of Land Management, 222 W 7th Avenue
#13, Anchorage, AK 99513, telephone (907) 474-2359, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fe8c939792928dbe9c9293d0999188"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="72001f1b1e1e0132101e1f5c151d04">[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 the
BLM Alaska, and additional information on the determinations in this
notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the
inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Based on the information available, Native American human remains
representing at least 43 individuals, along with 45 associated funerary
objects, have been identified at the Penn Museum. These remains and
items were collected in 1918 by William Van Valin when he was hired by
the Penn Museum to lead the John Wanamaker Expedition to Alaska (1917-
1919). In April 1928, the human remains were transferred to The Wistar
Institute, Philadelphia, whereas the cultural items were retained at
the Penn Museum. In 1956, the human remains were transferred back to
the Penn Museum, where they presently reside. Records at the Penn
Museum indicate that the 43 individuals found are represented as
follows: 20 are represented by craniums and mandibles only, 12 by
craniums only, four by mandibles only, five by post-cranial elements
only, and one by a mandible and post-cranial elements. Four are
children (ca.4-15 years), three are adolescents (ca.15 to 17 years), 35
are adults (ca.20 to ca.60 years), and one is of unknown age. The
children, adolescents, and unknown aged individual are of unknown or
uncertain sex. Of the adults, 18 are male and 17 are female. No known
individuals are identified among the 43 sets of human remains. Two of
the remains are from Nunavak, 11 from the general Point Barrow region,
11 from or probably from Kugusugaruk, 17 from Barrow or present-day
Utqiagvik, and two from either Nunavak or Kugusugaruk. The remains from
Nunavak and Kugusugaruk date to the Birnirk culture (500 CE--1000 CE),
while those from near Utqiagvik or the general Point Barrow region are
of uncertain or historic age (ca. 1500 CE--1900 CE).
The human remains derive from the Kugusugaruk site (49-BAR-00003)
located 6.6 miles southwest of present-day Utqiagvik, Alaska, the
Nunavak site (49-BAR-00037 and/or 49-BAR-00038) located three and four
miles southwest of Utqiagvik, respectively, the tundra area located
inland from present-day Utqiagvik, and other currently unknown loci in
the general Point Barrow region of Alaska.
The 45 associated funerary objects are tool handles, arrowheads and
arrow shafts, other stone tools, drinking tubes, sinew twisters, a snow
shovel rim, bowls, and other serving or eating vessels. These objects
derive from Kugusugaruk; available information from the Penn Museum
indicates that none of the 45 associated funerary objects are
associated with any of the human remains at the Penn Museum, but are
instead associated with human remains that are or were located at the
Smithsonian Institute (SI), National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains and associated
funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The BLM Alaska has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 43 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 45 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 reasonable connection between the human remains
and funerary objects described in this notice and the Native Village of
Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
authorized representative identified in this notice under 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 October 10, 2024.
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the BLM 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. The BLM Alaska is responsible for sending a copy of this
notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations
identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: August 29, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-20290 Filed 9-9-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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