[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 165 (Friday, August 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 51564]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-20960]



[[Page 51564]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-10912; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Thomas Burke Memorial Washington 
State Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum (Burke 
Museum), University of Washington, has completed an inventory of human 
remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and a present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any Indian 
tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human 
remains may contact the Burke Museum. Repatriation of the human remains 
to the tribe named below may occur if no additional claimants come 
forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact the Burke Museum at the address below by 
September 24, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Peter Lape, Burke Museum, University of Washington, Box 
35101, Seattle, WA 98195, telephone (206) 685-3849.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 under 
the control of the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum (Burke 
Museum), University of Washington, Seattle, WA. The human remains were 
removed from Wrangell, in Southeast Alaska.
    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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Burke 
Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes; Petersburg Indian 
Association; Wrangell Cooperative Association; and Sealaska Heritage 
Institute, a regional Native Alaskan nonprofit organization.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1918, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from the further out of two stone cairns on a point in 
Wrangell, Alaska. These remains were collected by Ernest P. Walker, who 
donated them to the Burke Museum in November of 1918 (Burke Accn. 
1508). No known individuals were identified. No funerary 
objects are present.
    The human remains are consistent with Native American morphology, 
as evidenced through tooth wear as well as the presence of wormian 
bones. The town of Wrangell, located on Wrangell Island, was 
aboriginally within the southern Tlingit tribal group of the Stikine 
(De Laguna 1990, Goldschmidt and Haas 1998, Smythe 1994). Wrangell was 
the site of a village of the Stikine (Smythe 1994). The Stikine people 
are now represented by the modern-day Wrangell Cooperative Association.

Determinations Made by the Burke Museum

    Officials of the Burke Museum have determined that:
     Based on anthropological and biological evidence, the 
human remains are determined to be Native American.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
above represent the physical remains of one individual of Native 
American ancestry.
     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 Wrangell Cooperative Association.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Peter 
Lape, Burke Museum, University of Washington, Box 35101, Seattle, WA 
98195, telephone (206) 685-9364, before September 24, 2012. 
Repatriation of the human remains to the Wrangell Cooperative 
Association may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The Burke Museum is responsible for notifying the Central Council 
of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes; Petersburg Indian Association; 
Wrangell Cooperative Association; and Sealaska Heritage Institute, a 
regional Native Alaskan nonprofit organization, that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: July 23, 2012.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-20960 Filed 8-23-12; 8:45 am]
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