Notice2025-04615
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region, Anchorage, AK
Primary source
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Published
March 19, 2025
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 (USFWS), has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 52 (Wednesday, March 19, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 52 (Wednesday, March 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12768-12769]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04615]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039573; 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 (USFWS), has completed an inventory
of human remains and associated funerary objects 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.
[[Page 12769]]
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after April 18, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Jeremy M. Karchut, United States Fish and Wildlife Service,
1011 E Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503, phone (907) 786-3399, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f0ba9582959d89afbb918293988584b0968783de979f86"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="703a1502151d092f3b110213180504301607035e171f06">[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
USFWS, and additional information on the determinations in this notice,
including the results of consultation, can be found in its inventory or
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Atka Island
Human remains representing, at least, three individuals have been
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. In either 1948
or 1949, the human remains were removed from burial caves on Atka
Island in the Aleutians West Census Area, AK by Theodore P. Bank II, an
ethno-botanist. The human remains were stored at the University of
Michigan Museum of Anthropology, were transferred in 1982 to the
University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks, AK, and were transferred
again in 2002 to the Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska, AK. The
remains were transferred again prior to 2008 to the Alaska Region,
USFWS in Anchorage, AK which were then finally transferred in 2017 to
the University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks, AK. These remains are
currently split between the University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks,
AK and the Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska, AK.
Agattu Island
Human remains representing at least, 13 individuals have been
identified. The 12 associated funerary objects are one basalt biface;
one animal bone; and 10 unidentified objects. In 1949, the human
remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Agattu Island
in the Aleutians West Census Area, AK, during research permitted to
Theodore P. Bank II. The human remains were stored at the University of
Michigan Museum of Anthropology until being transferred in 2002 to the
Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska, AK. A portion of the remains were
transferred again prior to 2008 to the Alaska Region, USFWS in
Anchorage, AK which were then finally transferred in 2017 to the
University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks, AK. These remains are
currently split between the University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks,
AK and the Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska, AK.
Tanaga Island
Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have been
identified. The 146 associated funerary objects are one awl, one bark
fragment, seven stone bifaces, one basalt knife, one ground slate ulu
fragment, two stone flake lots, four worked animal bones, one calcined
bone fragment, one unidentified animal bone, one sea mammal bulla, 15
bird bones, one seal metacarpal/metatarsal, one sea lion flipper bone,
one bone peg, one ivory swivel, one labret, two harpoon sockets, 54
matting fragments, 14 matting fragment lots, two matting bundles, one
basket fragment lot, one fur and feather coat, one grass bundle, one
wood container fragment, one piece of carved wood, two wood shaft
fragments, five worked wood objects, one worked wood lot, four wood
fragment lots, two wood and moss samples, one wood sample, 12 soil
samples, one soil and organics lot, and one metal flake lot. In 1950,
the human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from
Michigan Rock Cave on a small islet off of Tanaga Island in the
Aleutians West Census Area, AK, by Theodore P. Bank II during permitted
archaeological excavations. The human remains and associated funerary
objects were taken by Dr. Bank to the University of Michigan. Upon his
death these remains were transferred to the University of Alaska Museum
in Fairbanks, AK and then subsequently transferred to the Museum of the
Aleutians in Unalaska, AK following consultation between the USFWS and
the Aleut Corporation. A portion of the remains were transferred again
in 2017 in order to undergo re-evaluation at the University of Alaska
Museum in Fairbanks, AK. These remains are currently split between the
University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks, AK and the Museum of the
Aleutians in Unalaska, AK.
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 USFWS has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 18 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 158 objects described in this notice are reasonably
believed to have been placed intentionally 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 connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Native
Village of Atka.
Requests for Repatriation
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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after April 18,
2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the USFWS
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 USFWS 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: February 19, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-04615 Filed 3-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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