[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 61 (Monday, March 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18058-18059]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07143]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-15212; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Defense, 
Department of the Navy, Washington, DC

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Navy (DoN) 
has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and associated funerary objects and the Native Village of 
Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government. Representatives of any Indian 
tribe not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of 
control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should 
submit a written request to the DoN. If no additional requestors come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Indian tribe stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe not identified in this 
notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains 
and associated funerary objects should submit a written request with 
information in support of the request to the DoN at the address in this 
notice by April 30, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Dave M. Grant, Department of the Navy, NAVFAC NW., 1101 
Tautog Circle, Suite 102, Silverdale, WA 98315-1101, telephone (360) 
396-0919, email [email protected].

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 and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the U.S. Department of 
Defense, Department of the Navy (DoN). The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from sites near Point Barrow in North 
Slope Borough, AK.

[[Page 18059]]

    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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by DoN 
officials in consultation with representatives of the Native Village of 
Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government.

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1951 and 1953, human remains representing, at minimum, 58 
individuals were removed from the sites of Birnirk, Nunavah, Nuvuk, and 
other locations near Point Barrow in North Slope Borough, AK. The human 
remains were recovered during archeological excavations authorized 
under an Antiquities Act permit and directed by Wilbert Carter of the 
Peabody Museum, Harvard University. The collections from these sites 
were returned to the Peabody Museum following each field season, were 
transferred for a time to Tufts University, and were returned to the 
Peabody Museum by Mr. Carter in 1984. The collections were transferred 
to a Department of the Navy contract facility in Conshohocken, PA, in 
2006, and in 2011, the collections were transferred to the Museum of 
the North, University of Alaska at Fairbanks. No known individuals were 
identified in the collection. The 124 associated funerary objects 
include: 33 wooden objects (miscellaneous objects and fragments, dowel 
pin, dish, dart shaft, game dispatcher, atlatl, wound plug, float, toy 
arrow, shafts, scoop, effigy pick handle, paddle blade, seal 
scratcher); 26 ivory objects (paddle tip, needle case, pins, harpoon 
head and shaft, dart, point, mouthpiece, fossil object, awl, worked 
object, composite handle, fragment); 23 bone objects (ice pick, spring 
trap frame, bola weight, worked objects, harpoon head, points, bow 
brace); 11 antler or antler/stone objects (points, harpoon heads, dart 
prongs, worked and un-worked antler); 8 other faunal objects (sewn skin 
fragments, marine shells, bear teeth and fur, baleen whale effigy); 7 
stone objects (spall, burin, point, knife, hearthstone, whetstone); and 
16 ceramic sherds.
    The majority of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
were excavated from three mounds at the Birnirk site, two mounds at 
Nunavah site, and one mound at Nuvuk site. The remains and objects from 
the Birnirk and Nuvuk sites date from 500 to 1200 A.D. The remains and 
objects from the Nunavah site are undated.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of 
the Navy

    Officials of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Navy 
have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 58 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 124 objects 
described in this notice 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.
     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 Native 
Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe not identified in this notice 
that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and 
associated funerary objects should submit a written request with 
information in support of the request to Dave M. Grant, Department of 
the Navy, NAVFAC NW., 1101 Tautog Circle, Suite 102, Silverdale, WA 
98315-1101, telephone (360) 396-0919, email [email protected], by 
April 30, 2014. After that date, if no additional requestors have come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional 
Government may proceed.
    The U.S. Department of Defense, Department of the Navy is 
responsible for notifying the Native Village of Barrow Inupiat 
Traditional Government that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 10, 2014.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-07143 Filed 3-28-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P