[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 225 (Wednesday, November 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71671-71672]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-25575]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0034909; 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 has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between 
the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice. The human remains were removed from the Bethel Census 
Area, Alaska.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains 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

    On September 9, 1907, human remains representing, at minimum, four 
individuals were removed from the Bethel Census Area, nearby the 
village of Bethel. They were removed during the 1905-1907 expedition to 
the middle of Alaska's Yukon Valley sponsored by the University of 
Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) and 
conducted by George Byron Gordon, General Curator of American 
Archaeology, and his brother MacLaren Gordon. Subsequently, the human 
remains, which are over 150 years old, were brought back to the Penn 
Museum (PM 29-145-1, PM 29-145-2, PM 29-145-5, and PM 29-145-6). No 
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.

[[Page 71672]]

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains 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 information 
and oral tradition.

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 four individuals of Native American ancestry.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice 
and the Orutsararmiut Traditional Native Council (previously listed as 
Orutsararmuit Native Village (aka Bethel)).

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains 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 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. 2022-25575 Filed 11-22-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P