[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 56 (Thursday, March 23, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14718-14719]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-4179]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, Anchorage, AK, and 
Museum of the Aleutians, Unalaska, 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 control of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State 
Office, Anchorage, AK, and in the physical custody of the Museum of the 
Aleutians, Unalaska, AK. The human remains were removed from Amaknak 
Island, Split Rock Island, and Unalaska 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 in 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 in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Bureau 
of Land Management and Smithsonian Institution professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska.
    During the 1950s to 1980s, human remains representing a minimum of 
three individuals were removed from Umqan 2 and K-B-1 sites 
near Unalaska on Unalaska Island in the Fox Island group of the eastern 
Aleutian Islands, AK. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    During the 1950s to 1980s, human remains representing a minimum of 
nine individuals were removed from AMD-I, AMD-II, AMD-III, Bridge, and 
AMOK-I sites near Unalaska on Amaknak Island in the Fox Island group of 
the eastern Aleutian Islands, AK. No known individuals were identified. 
No associated funerary objects are present.
    During the 1950s to 1980s, human remains representing a minimum of 
one individual were removed from Site 44647 near Unalaska on Split Rock 
Island in the Fox Island group of the eastern Aleutian Islands, AK. No 
known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    According to museum records, most of the human remains were 
excavated by Dr. Ted Bank of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, 
MI, under federal permits. Some additional human remains were collected 
under undocumented circumstances and were placed in the archeological 
collections of Western Michigan University or kept by Dr. Bank. All 
excavations were done on land under Bureau of Land Management authority 
at the time. No further information was found in museum records. 
Between 1998 and 2001, the Museum of the Aleutians of Unalaska, AK, 
received the Western Michigan University archeological collections from 
Amaknak Island, Split Rock Island, and Unalaska Island, AK,

[[Page 14719]]

including human remains that had been in the possession of the now 
deceased Dr. Bank.
    Unalaska Island and nearby Amaknak and Split Rock Islands have been 
inhabited for over 8,000 years by Aleut (Unangan) people. Based on 
geographic location, oral history, and archeological evidence, the 
human remains from these three islands are of Aleut (Unangan) origin. 
The Aleut (Unangan) are ancestors of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska, 
the current and only Indian tribe of Unalaska, AK.
    Officials of the Bureau of Land Management have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of 13 individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of Land Management have also 
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 Qawalangin Tribe of 
Unalaska.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Dr. 
Robert E. King, Alaska State NAGPRA Coordinator, Bureau of Land 
Management, 222 West 7th Avenue, No. 13, Anchorage, AK 99513-7599, 
telephone (907) 271-5510, before April 24, 2006. Repatriation of the 
human remains to the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska may proceed after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for notifying the 
Ounalashka Corporation and Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: March 14, 2006.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-4179 Filed 3-22-06; 8:45 am]
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