[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 77 (Friday, April 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20331-20332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9752]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cape Cod National 
Seashore, South Wellfleet, MA

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), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of the inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the 
Interior, National Park Service, Cape Cod National Seashore, South 
Wellfleet, MA.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2(c). The 
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
National Park Service unit that has control or possession of these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The 
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships is 
not responsible for the determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by National 
Park Service professional staff in consultation with the Wampanoag 
Confederation, whose membership consists of the Federally-recognized 
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head

[[Page 20332]]

(Aquinnah), and the non-Federally-recognized Assonet Band of the 
Wampanoag Nation and the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council.
    In 1981, human remains representing one individual were recovered 
during a legally authorized National Park Service archeological survey 
in the area of the Salt Pond, located within park boundaries in 
Eastham, MA. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present. A Jack's Reef corner-notched point found at the 
survey site, along with radiocarbon samples from nearby test pits, 
indicate that the human remains are dated to the Middle Woodland period 
(A.D. 100-1000)
    On July 13, 1983, human remains representing one individual were 
collected by visitors to the park from an eroding dune area on Griffin 
Island in Wellfleet, MA. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present. On the basis of the state of 
preservation of the remains as well as material from other 
archeological survey sites in the immediate area, these remains are 
dated to the Middle to Late Woodland period (A.D. 500.0-1600). 
Archeological evidence indicates a continuity of occupation during the 
Middle and Late Woodland to the Historic period. Historical 
documentation indicates that the Nauset people occupied the outer Cape 
Cod area in the early 1600s. Some descendants of the Nausets are 
believed to have been absorbed by the Wampanoag people in the 1700s.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, the Cape Cod National 
Seashore superintendent has determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 
10.2(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical 
remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry. The Cape Cod 
National Seashore superintendent also has determined that, pursuant to 
25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity 
that can be reasonably traced between these Native American human 
remains and the Wampanoag Confederation, whose membership consists of 
the Federally-recognized Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and 
the non-Federally-recognized Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation and 
the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Wampanoag Tribe of 
Gay Head (Aquinnah), Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, and Mashpee 
Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council. Representatives of any other Indian 
tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these human 
remains should contact Maria Burks, Superintendent, Cape Cod National 
Seashore, 99 Marconi Site Road, South Wellfleet, MA 02667, telephone 
(508) 349-3785, before May 21, 2001. Repatriation of the human remains 
to the Wampanoag Confederation, whose membership consists of the 
Federally- recognized Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and the 
non-Federally-recognized Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation and the 
Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, may begin after that date if 
no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: March 22, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-9752 Filed 4-19-01; 8:45 am]
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