[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 144 (Friday, July 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48912-48913]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-16067]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036255; 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 four areas northeast of Seldovia, AK, on or near the 
southern shore of Kachemak Bay, located off the southwestern part of 
the lower Kenai Peninsula, AK.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after August 28, 2023.

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

    In 1931, human remains representing, at minimum, four individuals 
were removed from three areas within about 25 miles northeast of 
Seldovia, AK, on or near the southern shore of Kachemak Bay, which is 
located off the southwestern part of the lower Kenai Peninsula, AK. 
These human remains, estimated to be over 200 years old, were removed 
by Frederica de Laguna, who was associated with the University of 
Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Philadelphia, 
PA. The human remains were brought back to this museum, where they are 
currently housed. One partial set of human remains [PM# 31-20-585] was 
removed from what was called Rocky Island (otherwise known as Sixty-
foot Rock), located north of Cohen Island in Kachemak Bay, about 12 
miles northeast of Seldovia, AK. Two partial sets of human remains [PM# 
31-20-2323; PM# 31-20-2321] were collected on Yukon Island in Kachemak 
Bay, about 10 miles northeast of Seldovia, AK. A fourth partial set of 
human remains [PM# 31-20-312.1] were collected on Aurora Spit, located 
on the north shore of the southwestern part of the lower Kenai 
Peninsula, about 25 miles northeast of Seldovia, AK. The one associated 
funerary object is a bone point [PM# 31-20-356] that was found near the 
partial set of human remains collected on Aurora Spit.

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 four individuals of Native American ancestry.
     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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice 
and the Seldovia Village Tribe.

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 August 28, 2023. 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.

[[Page 48913]]

    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: July 19, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-16067 Filed 7-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P