[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 57 (Monday, March 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15234-15235]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05981]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22938; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
Alaska Region, Anchorage, AK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region, Anchorage, 
AK (Alaska Region USFWS), has completed an inventory of human remains 
and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate 
Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, including Alaska Native 
Tribes, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between 
the human remains and associated funerary objects, and present-day 
Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or 
representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization, 
including Alaska Native Tribes, 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 Alaska Region 
USFWS. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of 
the human remains to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, Native 
Hawaiian, Alaska Native Tribes, or organizations stated in this notice 
may proceed.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, including Alaska Native Tribes, 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 Alaska Region USFWS at the address in this notice by 
April 26, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Edward J. DeCleva, Regional Historic Preservation Officer, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region, 1011 East Tudor Road, 
MS-235, Anchorage, AK 99503, telephone (907) 786-3399, 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(d)(3), of the completion of an inventory of human remains 
under the control of the Alaska Region USFWS. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from Chirikof Island, Kodiak 
Island 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 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 the Alaska 
Region USFWS professional staff and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE 
St. Louis District) staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak (previously listed as the Shoonaq' Tribe of 
Kodiak).

History and Description of the Remains

    In August 1962, human remains representing, at minimum, 109 
individuals were removed from multiple sites in the Southwest Anchorage 
of Chirikof Island, in Kodiak Island Borough, AK. The human remains 
represent a minimum of 61 individuals, 48 adults and 13 juveniles, from 
blowout A (also referred to as Site 1); a minimum of 42 individuals 30 
adults and 12 juveniles, from blowout B; two adult individuals from 
Site 2 (also listed as the Midden Site, a secondary site at blowout B); 
and four adult individuals from the additional locations on the island. 
No known individuals were identified. The 47 associated funerary 
objects include 4 vials of blue European trading beads, 2 vials white 
European trading beads, 34 amber beads, and 1 animal bone shaft all 
from burial 2 at Site 2; 3 labrets, 2 jet and 1 ivory were recovered 
from Site 1 on Chirikof Island.
    Anthropologists collected exposed human remains from two areas 
designated blowout Area A and B. Area A was a deflating dune trending 
east-west 200 meters from the shoreline of the Southwest Anchorage, and 
Area B is described as an area approximately 200 by 100 meters located 
east of Area A across a river. At the time of the collection, most of 
the human remains from Area B were found stacked together in piles, 
while the skeletal material from Area A were scattered, disarticulated, 
and badly mixed. In addition to Areas A and B, approximately four 
individuals were removed from two other areas of the island; these were 
designated as sites 14 and 21.
    In the early 1960s, these human remains were held at the University 
of Wisconsin-Madison. In the late 1960s, most of the collection was 
loaned to Dr. Neal Tappen at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukie. In 
1982, a doctoral student brought the remains to Indiana University in 
Bloomington, IN. In March 2016, the collection was transferred to the 
USACE St. Louis District for inventory and rehousing in anticipation of 
their return to Alaska.
    The human remains are believed to be interments stemming from a 
continuous occupation of the island between 1798 and 1870 by 
administrators as well as conscript and paid laborers hunting ground 
squirrels for the Russian-American Company. The preponderance of 
records, including lists of residents for the period 1833-1870, point 
to the Chirikof population as being mainly Kodiak Island Alutiiq from 
the southwest portion of the island including those on Tugidak and 
Sitkinak islands. Therefore, the Chirikof Island human remains are 
likely Native American and most closely affiliated with the modern 
Kodiak Alutiiq people.

Determinations Made by the Alaska Region USFWS

    Officials of the Alaska Region USFWS have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 109 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 47 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 the Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak (previously 
listed as the Shoonaq' Tribe of Kodiak).

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 and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of

[[Page 15235]]

the request to Edward J. DeCleva, Regional Historic Preservation 
Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region, 1011 East Tudor 
Road, MS-235, Anchorage, AK 99503, telephone (907) 786-3399, email 
[email protected], by April 26, 2017. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Sun'aq Tribe of 
Kodiak (previously listed as the Shoonaq' Tribe of Kodiak) may proceed.
    The Alaska Region USFWS is responsible for notifying the Sun'aq 
Tribe of Kodiak (previously listed as the Shoonaq' Tribe of Kodiak) 
that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 15, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-05981 Filed 3-24-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P