[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 164 (Friday, August 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48670-48671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16784]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological 
Repository, Kodiak, 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 and associated funerary 
object in the possession of Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological 
Repository, Kodiak, AK. The human remains and associated funerary 
object were removed from Sitkalidak Island and near Old Harbor, 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 and associated funerary object. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Alutiiq 
Museum and Archaeological Repository professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Koniag, Inc.; Old Harbor Native 
Corporation; and Village of Old Harbor.
    In July of 1992, human remains representing a minimum of two 
individuals were removed from Refuge Rock (49-KOD-00450) off the coast 
of Sitkalidak Island, AK, by Dr. Richard Knecht during archeological 
excavation on conveyed Native lands. Permission to excavate and study 
the human remains was granted by the Old Harbor Native Corporation. The 
human remains were taken to the Kodiak Area Native Association's 
Alutiiq Culture Center. In April of 1995, the entire site collection 
was transferred to the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository 
where they are currently stored (accession number AM100). No known 
individuals were identified. The one associated funerary object is an 
ivory ornament (catalog number AM100:674).
    The Refuge Rock site, also known in Alutiiq as Awa'uq (to become 
numb), is a fortified 18th century Alutiiq settlement on an islet 
adjacent to Sitkalidak Island on the southeastern coast of the Kodiak 
archipelago. In 1784, Russian fur hunters ambushed the settlement, 
killing hundreds and initiating the conquest of Kodiak. Both 
individuals were recovered from a semi-subterranean house believed to 
have been occupied at the time of the siege. The human remains are 
reasonably believed to be Native American and most closely affiliated 
with the contemporary Kodiak Alutiiq people. Specifically, the human 
remains are from an area traditionally used by members of the Koniag 
Inc.; Old Harbor Native Corporation; and Village of Old Harbor.
    In 1960, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from an unknown archeological site near Old Harbor, AK, by 
physical anthropologists Drs. Laughlin and Jorgensen. When Dr. Laughlin 
moved to the University of Connecticut at Storrs, the human remains 
were brought with him. After Dr. Laughlin's death in the late 1990s, 
his entire collection, including this individual, were transferred to 
the Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska, AK, where they were deposited 
in the care of archeologist Dr. Richard Knecht. In or around 2000, Dr. 
Knecht sent the human remains to the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological 
Repository where they are currently stored (cranium OH60B1). No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    This individual could be from one of a number of archeological 
sites in the Old Harbor region of the Kodiak archipelago visited by Dr. 
Laughlin in the summer of 1960. There are no notes accompanying this 
individual and attempts to locate provenience information have failed. 
A review of the human remains suggests they are archeological. Humic 
staining on the bones and worn dentition with no evidence of modern 
dentistry suggest a prehistoric individual. Archeological data indicate 
that modern Alutiiqs evolved from archeologically documented societies 
of the Kodiak region, and can trace their ancestry back over 7,500 
years in the region. The human remains are likely Native American and 
most closely affiliated with the modern Kodiak Alutiiq people. 
Specifically, the human remains are from an area traditionally used by 
members of the Koniag Inc.; Old Harbor Native Corporation; and Village 
of Old Harbor.
    Officials of the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of a minimum of three 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Alutiiq 
Museum and Archaeological Repository also have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the one object described above is 
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 Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological 
Repository 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 associated 
funerary object and the Koniag, Inc.; Old Harbor Native Corporation; 
and Village of Old Harbor.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
object should

[[Page 48671]]

contact Dr. Sven Haakanson, Jr., Executive Director, Alutiiq Museum and 
Archaeological Repository, 215 Mission Rd., Suite 101, Kodiak, AK 
99615, telephone (907) 486-7004, before September 24, 2007. 
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary object to the 
Koniag, Inc.; Old Harbor Native Corporation; and Village of Old Harbor 
may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository is responsible for 
notifying the Koniag, Inc.; Old Harbor Native Corporation; and Village 
of Old Harbor that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 6, 2007
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-16784 Filed 8-23-07; 8:45 am]
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