[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 17, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34324-34325]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-13584]


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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 
Alaska Office of History and Archaeology, 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 control of the U.S. 
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State 
Office, Anchorage, AK, and in the possession of the Alaska Office of 
History and Archaeology, Anchorage, AK. The human remains were removed 
from Amaknak 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

[[Page 34325]]

Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contractors working 
under the supervision of the Alaska Office of History and Archaeology 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska.
    In 1950, human remains representing a minimum of 10 individuals 
were removed from the Eider Point site 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 or 1960s, human remains representing a minimum of 
one individual were removed from an undetermined site near Unalaska on 
Amaknak 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, the human remains from both sites were 
excavated by Dr. Ted Bank of Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, 
MI, under federal permits. All excavations were done on land managed by 
the Bureau of Land Management authority at the time. In about 1998, the 
Museum of the Aleutians received the Western Michigan University 
archeological collections from Unalaska and Amaknak Islands, AK, 
including human remains that had been in the possession of the now-
deceased Dr. Bank. In about 2003, human remains were moved to the 
University of Alaska, Anchorage, Anthropology Department. In 2004, the 
human remains were sent to the State of Alaska Office of History and 
Archaeology for inventory.
    Unalaska Island and nearby Amaknak Island have been inhabited for 
over 8,000 years by Aleut (Unangan) people. Based on geographical 
location, oral history, and archeological evidence, the human remains 
from these two islands are determined to be Native American and 
ancestors of the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska.
    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 11 individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Bureau of Land Management 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 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 W. 7th Avenue, Box 13, Anchorage, AK 99513-7599, 
telephone (907) 271-5510, before July 17, 2008. 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 
Ounalaska Corporation and Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska that this notice 
has been published.

    Dated: May 21, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-13584 Filed 6-16-08; 8:45 am]
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