[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 188 (Monday, September 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 50964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-25730]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects From Chugachuk Island, AK in the 
Possession of the University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, AK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

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 an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects from Chugachuk Island, AK in the possession 
of the University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, AK.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by University 
of Alaska Museum professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of Chugach Alaska Corporation, Cook Inlet Region, Inc., 
Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Ninilchik Village Traditional Council, Port 
Graham Village Council, Nanwalek Village Council, Native Village of 
Salamatof, and the Seldovia Village Tribe.
    In 1967, human remains representing five individuals were excavated 
from a large midden on the south side of Chugachuk Island, Kachemak 
Bay, AK by David Schimberg and Peter Schlederman during an 
archeological survey and salvage project sponsored by the University of 
Alaska-Fairbanks Department of Anthropology and the Institute of Arctic 
Biology. No known individuals were identified. The sixteen associated 
funerary objects include faunal remains.
    Based on cultural material of the site, including chipped lithics, 
slate, modified cobbles, a stone lamp fragment, ochre, and worked bone, 
this midden site has been determined to be pre-European contact in age. 
The cultural material is consistent with objects found within sites 
known to be affiliated with Chugach Alaska Corporation, Cook Inlet 
Region, Inc., Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Ninichik Village Traditional 
Council, Port Graham Village Council, Nanwalek Village Council, Native 
Village of Salamatof, and the Seldovia Village Tribe, and Chugachuk 
Island lies within the traditional territories of these Native Alaska 
Villages and Native Corporations. Consultation with Native Elders of 
these Native Alaska Villages indicates there is a traditional 
association with Chugachuk Island and these villages.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the 
University of Alaska Museum have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 
10.2(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical 
remains of five individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of 
the University of Alaska Museum have also determined that, pursuant to 
25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the sixteen objects listed above 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. 
Lastly, officials of the University of Alaska Museum have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of shared 
group identity which can be reasonably traced between these Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Chugach 
Alaska Corporation, Cook Inlet Region, Inc., Kenaitze Indian Tribe, 
Ninilchik Village Traditional Council, Port Graham Village Council, 
Nanwalek Village Council, Native Village of Salamatof, and the Seldovia 
Village Tribe.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Chugach Alaska 
Corporation, Cook Inlet Region, Inc., Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Ninilchik 
Village Traditional Council, Port Graham Village Council, Nanwalek 
Village Council, Native Village of Salamatof, and the Seldovia Village 
Tribe. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself 
to be culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should contact Gray Selinger, Special Projects 
Manager, University of Alaska Museum, 907 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK 
99775-1200; telephone: (907) 474-6117, before November 28, 1997. 
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to 
the Chugach Alaska Corporation, Cook Inlet Region, Inc., Kenaitze 
Indian Tribe, Ninilchik Village Traditional Council, Port Graham 
Village Council, Nanwalek Village Council, Native Village of Salamatof, 
and the Seldovia Village Tribe may begin after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: September 23, 1997.
Francis P. McManamon,
Department Consulting Archeologist, Manager, Archeology and Ethnography 
Program.
[FR Doc. 97-25730 Filed 9-26-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M