[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 135 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40372-40373]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-15903]


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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 and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7, Anchorage, AK. The human remains 
and associated funerary objects were removed from Atka 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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Region 7 professional staff with assistance from 
the Alaska State Office of History and Archaeology and University of 
Alaska, Anchorage, in consultation with representatives of the Aleut 
Corporation; Atka IRA Council and Atxam Corporation, which represent 
the Native Village of Atka; and Unangan Repatriation Commission, a non-
federally recognized Native Alaskan group.
    In either 1948 or 1949, human remains representing a minimum of two 
individuals were removed from burial caves on Atka Island, AK, by 
Theodore P. Bank II, an ethnobotanist, during an expedition undertaken 
for the purpose of collecting botanical as well as archeological 
specimens, which included human remains. The human remains from Atka 
Island have been curated at several institutions before finally 
arriving at the Museum of the Aleutians, Dutch Harbor, AK, in 2002 
after which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was informed. No known 
individuals were identified. The 18 associated funerary objects are 1 
stone lamp, 2 stone lamp fragments, 2 carved stone artifacts, 1 stone 
point, 1 ivory artifact, 9 bone tools, 1 sea otter skull, and 1 water 
worn bear mandible.
    The cultural affiliation has been determined based on previous 
occupations of the island, as well as the physical traits exhibited by 
both past populations and those of the recovered human remains. Atka 
Island has been occupied for at least 2,000 years and probably close to 
6,000 years by the Aleut people. All known dated cave burials from the 
Aleutians are younger than 2,000 years old (Black, 1982, pg 24; Black 
2003, pg 36; Hayes 2002). The skeletal morphology, other scientific 
testing, and physical traits associated with prehistoric Aleut 
populations and modern day Aleuts are consistent with the human 
remains. The burial contexts of the human remains are consistent with 
those observed for pre-contact Aleut populations. Based on scientific 
studies, burial context, and aboriginal occupation, the descendants of 
the

[[Page 40373]]

Aleut from Atka Island are members of the Atxam Corporation and Native 
Village of Atka.
    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 
described above represent the physical remains of two individuals 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 
(3)(A), the 18 objects described above are 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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7 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 objects and the Atxam Corporation 
and Native Village of Atka.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Debra Corbett, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503, telephone (907) 786-3399, 
before August 13, 2008. Repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Native Village of Atka, represented 
by the Atka IRA Council and Atxam Corporation, 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; Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, 
Inc.; and Native Village of Atka, represented by the Atka IRA Council 
and Atxam Corporation that this notice has been published.

    Dated: June 5, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-15903 Filed 7-11-08; 8:45 am]
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