[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 78 (Monday, April 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17719-17720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9785]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
in the Control of Acadia National Park, National Park Service, Bar 
Harbor, ME 

AGENCY: National Park Service

ACTION: Notice

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 
3003(d), of the completion of the inventory of human remains in the 
control of the National Park Service at Acadia National Park, Bar 
Harbor, ME.
    A detailed inventory and assessment of the human remains has been 
made by professional staff of the National Park Service in consultation 
with representatives of the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, 
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of 
Maine, and Penobscot Nation, identified collectively hereafter as the 
Wabanaki Tribes of Maine.
    Human remains representing nine individuals and associated funerary 
objects from the Fernald Point site (ME Site 43-24), a precontact shell 
midden within the Park boundaries, was previously published in a Notice 
of Inventory Completion dated July 21, 1994. This site represents the 
Ceramic Period (1-1600 AD).
    In 1995, additional human remains from the nine previously reported 
individuals were located among faunal remains of the Park's museum 
collection. Three human bone fragments representing a minimum of one 
individual from the same site were also discovered. No known 
individuals were identified. No further associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Evidence presented by representatives of the Wabanaki Tribes of 
Maine identifies Acadia National Park area as both a historic and 
precontact gathering place for the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine. The 
Prehistoric Subcommittee of the Maine State Historic Preservation 
Office's Archaeological Advisory Committee has found it reasonable to 
trace a shared group identity from the Late Prehistoric Period (1000-
1500 AD) inhabitants of Maine as an undivided whole to the four modern 
Indian tribes known collectively as the Wabanaki

[[Page 17720]]

Tribes of Maine on the basis of geographic proximity; survivals and 
continuity of stone, ceramic and perishable material culture skills; 
and probable linguistic continuity across the Late Prehistoric/Contact 
Period boundary. In a 1979 article, Dr. David Sanger, the archeologist 
who conducted the 1977 excavations at the Fernald Point Site and 
uncovered the above mentioned burials, recognizes a relationship 
between Maine sites dating to the Ceramic Period (1- 1600 AD) and 
present-day Algonquian speakers generally known as Abenakis, including 
the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet 
Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Nation.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the National 
Park Service have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10 (d)(1), the 
human remains listed above represent the physical remains of at least 
ten individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the National 
Park Service have also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), 
there is a relationship of shared group identity which can be 
reasonably traced between the Native American human remains and the 
Wabanaki Tribes of Maine representing the Aroostook Band of Micmac 
Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, 
Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Nation.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Aroostook Band of 
Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, 
Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Nation. Representatives of 
any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated 
with these human remains should contact Mr. Paul Haertel, 
Superintendent, Acadia National Park, P.O. Box 177, Bar Harbor, ME 
04609; telephone: (207) 288-0374, May 22, 1996. Repatriation of the 
human remains may begin after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
Dated: April 10, 1996
C. Timothy McKeown
Acting Departmental Consulting ArcheologistArcheology & Ethnography 
Program
[FR Doc. 96-9785 Filed 4-19-96; 8:45 am]
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