[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 230 (Monday, December 1, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 67205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29773]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7, Anchorage, AK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains in the possession of the 
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 
7, Anchorage, AK. The human remains were removed from Amchitka Island, 
AK.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of 
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the 
Native American human remains. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Region 7 professional staff and forensic 
anthropologists from the Alaska State Office of History and 
Archaeology, in consultation with representatives of the the Aleut 
Corporation, Atxam Corporation, and Native Village of Atka.
    In 1980, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from an eroding midden site on Amchitka Island, in the 
Aleutian Islands Unit of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, 
AK, by a seasonal refuge employee. The human remains were removed to 
prevent them from being destroyed or stolen during construction 
activity. No known individual was identified. No funerary objects are 
present.
    There are no radiocarbon dates available for the human remains. 
Midden sites began to appear approximately 3,000 years ago in the 
Aleutian Islands. The human remains were found in the upper levels of 
the site and likely date to the Late Prehistoric period, possibly no 
earlier than A.D. 1000.
    The burial context and physical traits of the human remains are 
consistent with those observed for precontact Aleut populations. 
Skeletal morphology of present-day Aleut populations is similar to that 
of prehistoric populations, and demonstrates biological and cultural 
affiliation between present-day Aleut groups and prehistoric 
populations in the Aleutian Islands.
    Historical records demonstrate a cultural affiliation between the 
late prehistoric populations on Amchitka Island and the Atxam 
Corporation and the Native Village of Atka. After Russian contact with 
the Rat Islands, to which Amchitka Island belongs, began in 1751, the 
population declined precipitously. By the 1790s, the Rat Islands 
populations were concentrated on Kiska and Amchitka Islands, and the 
Russians removed most of the Rat Islands Aleuts to Atka Island in the 
Andreanof Islands in the central Aleutian Island chain. By 1812, the 
survivors were returned to Amchitka Island. By 1832, inhabitants of the 
Rat Islands were again moved to Atka Island or to the Commander 
Islands, and the Rat Islands, including Amchitka, were never 
permanently re-occupied. Amchitka Island continued to be used by the 
people of Atka Island as a hunting ground. In 1920, the Native 
residents of Atka Island leased Amchitka Island for fox farming. The 
lease was renewed in 1929 by the Atka Village Community. Atka Island 
residents continued to use Amchitka Island until the Japanese invasion 
of the western Aleutians in 1942 during World War II. Aleut Atka 
residents are represented by the Native Village of Akta and Atxam 
Corporation.
    Officials of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7 have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001, (9-10), the human remains 
listed above represent the physical remains of one individual of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Region 7 also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), 
there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably 
traced between the Native American human remains and the Atxam 
Corporation and the Native Village of Atka.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Debra 
Corbett, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 East Tudor Road, 
Anchorage, AK 99503, telephone (907) 786-3399, before December 31, 
2003. Repatriation of the human remains to the Atxam Corporation and 
the Native Village of Atka may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7 is responsible for 
notifying the Aleut Corporation, Atxam Corporation, and the Native 
Village of Atka that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 17, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-29773 Filed 11-28-03; 8:45 am]
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