[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71673-71674]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25574]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034908; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM Alaska) has completed an inventory of human 
remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there 
is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated 
funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from the Aleutians West Census Area, AK.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after December 23, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Robert E. King, Bureau of Land Management, 222 W 7th Avenue, 
#13, Anchorage, AK 99513, telephone (907) 271-5510, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of BLM 
Alaska. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice. Additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the inventory or related records held by BLM Alaska.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from two locations on Unalaska Island in the Aleutians West 
Census Area, AK. The human remains were determined to be more than 200 
years old.
    Sometime prior to 1961, human remains representing, at minimum, two 
individuals were removed by an unknown person from the Chernofski site. 
In 1961, Ron Boyce deposited these human remains at the University of 
Alaska Museum of the North (University Museum). No known individuals 
were identified. The 27 associated funerary objects are one bone shaft, 
11 pieces of worked bone, two pieces of decorated ivory, one piece of 
worked wood, one bone drill bearing, seven bone points, one ivory 
point, one bone handle, and two wooden spoons.
    Sometime prior to 1963, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed by an unknown person from the Summer Bay area. 
In 1963, Ron Kent deposited these human remains at the University 
Museum. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, 
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity 
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures 
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: archeological and oral traditional.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, BLM Alaska has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 27 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or

[[Page 71674]]

a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after December 23, 2022. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, BLM Alaska must 
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. BLM Alaska is responsible for sending a copy of this notice 
to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: November 16, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-25574 Filed 11-22-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P