[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 73 (Monday, April 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23462-23463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-08053]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035613; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region, 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, Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Alaska Region (FWS Alaska) has completed an 
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects with 
assistance from the University of Alaska Museum of the North and the 
Museum of the Aleutians, 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 
archeological sites on Kagamil, Carlisle, and Ship Rock Islands in the 
Aleutians West Census Area, AK.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after May 17, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Jeremy M. Karchut, Regional Archeologist/Regional Historic 
Preservation Officer, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 E Tudor 
Road, MS-235, Anchorage, AK 99503, telephone (907) 786-3399, 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 FWS 
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 FWS Alaska.

Description

Kagamil Island, Warm Cave

    In 1948 or 1949, during an expedition led by physical 
anthropologist William S. Laughlin, 18 associated funerary objects were 
removed from Warm Cave on Kagamil Island. In 2017, the Peabody Museum 
of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, 
transferred these associated funerary objects to the University of 
Alaska Museum in Fairbanks, AK. The 18 associated funerary objects 
include four woven fiber mats, two wood tools, five pieces of work 
wood, one unworked piece of wood, two ground stone knife fragments, two 
wood panels, one abrader, and one soil sample.

Kagamil Island

    Between 1947 and 1950, ethno-botanist Theodore P. Bank II and 
physical anthropologist William S. Laughlin removed human remains 
representing, at minimum, nine individuals from an unknown site--likely 
Cold Cave, Warm Cave, or Mask Cave--on Kagamil Island. Initially, these 
human remains and associated funerary objects were stored at the 
University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology in Ann Arbor, MI. In 
1982, they were transferred to the University of Alaska Museum in 
Fairbanks, AK, and in 2002, they were transferred to the Museum of the 
Aleutians in Unalaska, AK. Following additional transfers, physical 
custody is of the human remains is currently split between the 
University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks and the Museum of the 
Aleutians in Unalaska. These human remains belong to seven adults and 
two juveniles. No known individuals were identified. The 44 associated 
funerary objects are one awl, one bone fish hook shank, one bone 
foreshaft, one bone labret, one bone object, one bone point, two pieces 
of cordage, one flora sample, one grass bundle, one ivory labret, one 
ivory object, one kayak part, one matting and cordage lot, three 
matting bundles, 19 matting fragments, one pumice sample, one lot of 
slides, one skin/hide fragment, three soil samples, one wood object, 
and one wood shaft fragment.
    In 1936, Olaus Murie removed human remains representing, at 
minimum, three individuals from ``Mummy Cave''--likely Cold Cave, Warm 
Cave, or Mask Cave--on Kagamil Island. In 1973, Adolph Murie (Olaus' 
brother) and his wife Louise donated a collection amassed by Olaus and 
his wife Margaret to the Teton Science Schools, in Northwest Wyoming 
and Idaho, which included these human remains. In November of 2021, the 
human remains were found in the ``Murie Museum closet,'' and in August 
of 2022, they were transferred to the University of Alaska Museum in 
Fairbanks. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    In 1938, William S. Laughlin removed 51 associated funerary objects 
from a cave --likely Cold Cave, Warm Cave, or Mask Cave--on Kagamil 
Island. Over the years, the Laughlin family donated these objects to 
the Museum of the Aleutians in Unalaska. The 51 associated funerary 
objects are one awl, four bifaces, three bone points, one bone wedge, 
one bundle of fiber/plant material, three pieces of cordage, two 
bundles of cordage, one ear bone, one flake tool, two foreshafts, two 
beads, one ground stone, one incised stone, one matting fragment, two 
lots of mixed fiber fragments, one piece of mold, one otter tooth, one 
pointed bone implement, four PPKs, four scrapers, two sea lion teeth, 
one seal tooth, one sealskin strap with fur, three ulus, one whale 
tooth, five worked bones, and one woven bag fragment.
    In 1941, Malcolm Greany removed nine associated funerary objects 
from a cave --likely Cold Cave, Warm Cave, or Mask Cave--on Kagamil 
Island. In 1942, Greany gave these objects to the Alaska State Museum 
in Juneau, and in 2022, they were transferred to the Museum of the 
Aleutians in Unalaska. The nine associated funerary objects are nine 
grass mat fragments.

Ship Rock Island

    At an unknown date, an unknown individual removed 11 associated 
funerary objects from Ship Rock Cave on Ship Rock Island, located in 
Umnak Strait between Umnak Island and Unalaska Island. (Possibly, 
Ale[scaron] Hrdli[ccaron]ka removed these objects in 1937 and 1938.) 
Currently, the objects are housed at the Museum of the Aleutians in 
Unalaska. The 11 associated funerary objects are eight kayak parts, one 
wood vessel, one wood vessel bottom, and one wood shaft fragment.

[[Page 23463]]

Kagamil Island and Ship Rock Island

    At an unknown date, an unknown individual removed nine associated 
funerary objects from a site--likely Cold Cave, Warm Cave, or Mask 
Cave--on Kagamil Island and from Ship Rock Cave on Ship Rock Island. 
(Possibly, Ale[scaron] Hrdli[ccaron]ka removed these objects in 1937 
and 1938.) The objects were housed at the Burke Museum in Seattle, WA, 
until 2016, when they were transferred to the University of Alaska 
Museum of the North. All nine associated funerary objects--seven from 
Kagamil Island and two from Ship Rock Island--are matting fragments.

Carlisle Island

    In 1948 or 1949, physical anthropologist William S. Laughlin 
removed human remains representing, at minimum, one individual and six 
associated funerary objects from Carlisle Island. In 2019, the Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University transferred 
these remains and objects to the University of Alaska Museum in 
Fairbanks. The human remains belong to a juvenile individual. No known 
individual was identified. The six associated funerary objects are one 
pumice ground stone, two clam shells, one stone pallet, one matting 
fragment, and one worked bone.

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: anthropological, archeological, geographical, biological, 
historical, oral traditional, and expert opinion

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, FWS Alaska have determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 13 individuals of Alaska Native ancestry.
     The 148 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 Native Village of Nikolski.

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 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 May 17, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, FWS 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. FWS 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: March 29, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-08053 Filed 4-14-23; 8:45 am]
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