[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 144 (Monday, July 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43771-43772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17750]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-16147: PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Illinois State Museum, 
Springfield, IL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Illinois State Museum has completed an inventory of human 
remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of 
any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this 
notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains 
should submit a written request to the Illinois State Museum. If no 
additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human 
remains to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian 
organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to the 
Illinois State Museum at the address in this notice by August 27, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Robert E. Warren, Curator of Anthropology, Illinois 
State Museum, 1011 East Ash Street, Springfield, IL 62703-3500, 
telephone (217) 524-7903, 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 under 
the control of the Illinois State Museum, Springfield, IL. The human 
remains were removed from the vicinity of Barrow, North Slope Borough, 
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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Illinois 
State Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope and the Native Village of 
Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1930-1931, human remains representing, at minimum, two 
individuals were removed from the ground surface in the vicinity of 
Barrow in North Slope Borough, AK. The remains were collected by Mollie 
Ward Greist, a native of Indiana who lived in Barrow from 1921-1936 
with her husband, Dr. Henry Greist, a physician and Presbyterian 
missionary, and their son David. Mollie Greist was an avid collector of 
bird eggs and nests, which she processed and shipped to several 
zoologists in the United States. In June of 1930, Greist collected a 
nest containing six eggs of the Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) 
that had been built inside a human cranium. Greist shipped the nest, 
eggs, and cranium to Richard M. Barnes, a zoologist with a large bird-
egg collection and museum in Lacon, IL. In July of 1931, following a 
severe snow storm that killed many birds, Greist collected another nest 
containing six eggs of the Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) that 
had also been built inside a human cranium. As before, she shipped the 
nest, eggs, and cranium to Richard M. Barnes.
    In 1947, Richard M. Barnes donated a large collection of zoological 
materials to the Illinois State Museum (ISM 1947-8), including both of 
the aforementioned sets of crania, nests, and eggs from the Barrow 
area. The crania were discovered by ISM zoologists during a 
rehabilitation of the Illinois State Museum's bird-nest collection. The 
cranium with the Lapland Longspur nest (Individual B; ISM NAGPRA-7449) 
is that of an adult female. It is relatively complete, but lacks 
dentition and is eroded by weathering. The cranium collected with the 
Snow Bunting nest (Individual A; ISM NAGPRA-7448) is also an adult 
female. It is not as weathered as Individual B, but it is fragmented 
and less complete (dentition and parts of the maxilla and other 
elements are missing). No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Both human remains have been determined to be Native American based 
on metric analysis and physical characteristics of the cranial vault. 
In addition, catalog information recorded by Richard M. Barnes 
indentifies Individual A as ``Esquamo.'' The remains are likely to be 
culturally affiliated with the Inupiat Eskimo based on their surface 
provenance, weathered condition, and the concordance of these factors 
with historical Inupiat funerary practices in the Barrow area. First, 
both remains were obtained from the ground surface. Although the 
original location is not known, the crania probably were found on the 
tundra ``inland from Barrow,'' where Mollie Greist and David Greist 
reported seeing hundreds of Native American skeletons lying on the

[[Page 43772]]

ground, sometimes in association with remnants of wooden coffins. 
Second, erosion of the cranial surfaces indicates that both human 
remains were exposed to weathering for a period of time. Third, 
historical observations of Inupiat cemeteries and funerary practices 
have shown that the standard treatment of the dead was to wrap each 
body in animal skins or cloth, remove it from the village by sled, and 
place it in a cemetery where the bodies ``sleep on the ground.'' A 
cemetery associated with Utqia[gdot]vik, a precontact Inupiat community 
located at modern-day Barrow, was located about 1.5 miles south of 
Barrow near the banks of Isatkoak Lagoon. A series of investigators 
removed more than one-hundred Inupiat human remains from this cemetery 
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and it is the 
most likely source of the human remains collected by Mollie Greist.

Determinations Made by the Illinois State Museum

    Officials of the Illinois State Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of two individuals 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 Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope 
and the Native Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Dr. 
Robert E. Warren, Illinois State Museum, 1011 East Ash Street, 
Springfield, IL 62703-3500, telephone (217) 524-7903, email 
[email protected], by August 27, 2014. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains to Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope and the Native 
Village of Barrow Inupiat Traditional Government may proceed.
    The Illinois State Museum is responsible for notifying the Inupiat 
Community of the Arctic Slope and the Native Village of Barrow Inupiat 
Traditional Government that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 2, 2014.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-17750 Filed 7-25-14; 8:45 am]
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