[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 138 (Thursday, July 22, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38754-38755]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-15566]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0032323; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, Anchorage, AK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land 
Management, Alaska State Office (BLM) 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 BLM. 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 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 the BLM at the address in this notice by 
August 23, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert E. King, Bureau of Land 
Management, Alaska State Office, 222 W 7th Avenue, #13, Anchorage, AK 
99513, telephone (907) 271-5510, 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 
the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office, 
Anchorage, AK. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from Unalaska Island and Amaknak Island in the Eastern Aleutian 
Islands, 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 BLM with 
the help of the University of Alaska Museum of the North professional 
staff in consultation with representatives of the Qawalangin Tribe of 
Unalaska.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1948, human remains representing at minimum, one individual were 
removed from the Chernofski site on Unalaska Island, Eastern Aleutian 
Islands, AK. The work was done as part of the Harvard Peabody Museum's 
Aleutian Expedition of 1948, led by Harvard University graduate student 
William S. Laughlin. The Harvard Peabody Museum felt it had 
authorization for the work under a contract to partially fund the 1948 
Expedition, but it obtained an Antiquities Act Permit for work during a 
second season in 1949, due to uncertainty about the authorization for 
the 1948 work. The human remains of the one individual removed in 1948 
were accessioned by the Harvard Peabody Museum, where they remained 
until 2017, when they were transferred to the Bureau of Land Management 
in Alaska and placed in their current location at the University of 
Alaska Museum of the North. The human remains consist of a single 
mandible from an adult of unknown sex. No known individual was 
identified. The one associated funerary object is the fragment of a 
ground stone lamp.
    The site is more than 200 years old; its actual age unknown. The 
stone lamp fragment is consistent with items found in other 
archeological sites more than 200 years old in the Eastern Aleutian 
Islands. Based on genetic studies as well as a continuity in artifact 
styles, scientists view the current aboriginal Unangan population of 
the Eastern Aleutian Islands as direct descendants of the people who 
first came to the region 9,000 or more years ago and were never 
replaced by any other people. This view is consistent with oral 
traditional information provided by today's Unangan people.
    In 1950, human remains representing at minimum, five individuals 
were removed from the Eider Point Site on Unalaska Island, Eastern 
Aleutian Islands, AK. That same year, human remains representing one 
individual were removed from the Amaknak Burial Site on Amaknak Island, 
near Unalaska Island. Both removals were carried out by Ted P. Bank II, 
of the University of Michigan, under a Federal permit. Initially, the 
human remains were placed at the University of Michigan. Around the 
late 1990s, these six sets of human remains were moved to the Museum of 
the Aleutians, Unalaska, Alaska. Until 2018, the human remains were 
believed to be under the control of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 
(FWS). Accordingly, FWS moved the remains from the Museum of the

[[Page 38755]]

Aleutians to Anchorage, Alaska sometime prior to 2012. In 2018, when 
the human remains were transferred to the Bureau of Land Management in 
Anchorage, AK, the BLM placed them at the University Museum of the 
North, Fairbanks, AK, where they are currently located. The human 
remains for each of the six individuals vary as to completeness with 
none more than 10-15% complete. One individual is represented by a 
single mandible. The others are represented predominately by smaller 
bones, including some complete or fragmentary vertebrae, ribs, ulnas, 
femurs, metatarsals, and tibias. Some of the six individuals are also 
represented by innominate fragments, one pubis, one sacrum, and one 
scapula. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    The remains of the six individuals removed from the Eider Point 
Site and the Amaknak Burial Site are all over 200 years old; their 
actual age is unknown. The connection between the remains of these six 
individuals and today's Unangan people is based on the above cited 
information.
    Sometime between the late 1940s and late 1970s, human remains 
representing, at minimum, four individuals were removed from an unknown 
site on Amaknak Island by William Laughlin who, during these years, was 
associated variously with several universities. These four sets of 
human remains were found at the Museum of Anthropological Archaeology 
at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. They had been placed 
there at an unknown date due to Laughlin's collaboration on Eastern 
Aleutian archeological work with Ted P. Bank II of the University of 
Michigan. The four individuals are represented by 13 teeth and a single 
long bone fragment. The four individuals include three adults and one 
subadult, all of unknown sex. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    The remains of the four individuals removed from Amaknak Island are 
all over 200 years old; their actual age is unknown. The connection 
between the remains of these six individuals and today's Unangan people 
is based on the above cited information.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Land Management, Alaska State Office

    Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land 
Management, Alaska State Office have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 11 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the one object described 
in this notice is 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 object and the 
Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska.

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 object should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Robert E. King, Bureau of Land Management, 
Alaska State Office, 222 W 7th Avenue, #13, Anchorage, AK 99513, 
telephone (907) 271-5510, email [email protected], by August 23, 2021. 
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary object 
to the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska may proceed.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, 
Alaska State Office is responsible for notifying the Qawalangin Tribe 
of Unalaska that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 14, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-15566 Filed 7-21-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P