[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 8, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51861-51862]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-24231]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0024147; 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, (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, 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 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 and associated funerary objects to the 
lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations 
stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations, 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 Alaska Region USFWS at the address in 
this notice by December 8, 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, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the Alaska Region 
USFWS. The human remains and associated funerary objects were recovered 
from site 049-KOD-00083, 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 in consultation with representatives of 
the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository of Kodiak, Alaska, 
acting as agent for the Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor (previously listed 
as Native Village of Old Harbor and Village of Old Harbor), Kaguyak 
Village, Native Village of Afognak, Native Village of Akhiok, Native 
Village of Larsen Bay, Native Village of Ouzinkie, Native Village of 
Port Lions, Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak (previously listed as the Shoonaq' 
Tribe of Kodiak), and the Tangirnaq Native Village (formerly Lesnoi 
Village (aka Woody Island)).

History and Description of the Remains

    Beginning in 1961 and continuing through 1963, human remains 
representing, at minimum, 23 individuals, including 17 adults (two 
possible males, two possible females, and 13 individuals of 
indeterminate sex), five sub adults, and one infant were removed from 
the Three Saints Bay site (049-KOD-00083) on Kodiak Island as part of 
the Aleut-Konyag project conducted by the University of Wisconsin-
Madison, under the direction of Morgan Usadel, Donald Clark, William 
Workman, and Peter Storck. The collection was curated and stored at the 
University of Wisconsin-Madison until 2006. The U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, working with the Regional Historic Preservation Officer of 
the Alaska Region USFWS to determine locations of Alaskan archeological 
collections, located and recovered this collection, conducted a 
complete inventory, and returned the human remains to the Alaska Region 
USFWS for storage. No known individuals were identified. The 23 
associated funerary objects include 19 unmodified faunal remains, 1 lot 
of charcoal samples, 1 carved bone figurine pin, 1 amber bead, and 1 
bone buckle.
    The Three Saints Bay site is a two component site, the lower 
component corresponds to the prehistoric late Kachemak tradition winter 
settlement dating to BP 2000 to 1100. The upper component consists of 
seven or eight log houses, warehouse, barns, bunkhouses, carpentry 
shop, and storage buildings of the first settlement established in 
North America by the Russian American Company in 1784. Five to nine 
burials were encountered at Three Saints Bay which, according to Donald 
Clark's 1970 report, exhibited burial practices that fit within the 
general Kachemak traditional pattern.
    The present-day descendant of the Kachemak tradition is the Alutiiq 
Tribe of Old Harbor (previously listed as Native Village of Old Harbor 
and Village of Old Harbor).

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

[[Page 51862]]

represent the physical remains of 23 individuals of Native American 
ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 23 associated 
funerary 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 Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor (previously 
listed as Native Village of Old Harbor and Village of Old Harbor).

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 the request to Edward 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 December 8, 2017. After that 
date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor (previously listed as Native Village of Old 
Harbor and Village of Old Harbor) may proceed.
    The Alaska Region, USFWS are responsible for notifying the Alutiiq 
Museum and Archaeological Repository of Kodiak, Alaska, acting as agent 
for the Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor (previously listed as Native 
Village of Old Harbor and Village of Old Harbor), Kaguyak Village, 
Native Village of Afognak, Native Village of Akhiok, Native Village of 
Larsen Bay, Native Village of Ouzinkie, Native Village of Port Lions, 
Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak (previously listed as the Shoonaq' Tribe of 
Kodiak), Tangirnaq Native Village (formerly Lesnoi Village (aka Woody 
Island)) that this notice has been published.

    Dated: September 14, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-24231 Filed 11-7-17; 8:45 am]
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