[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 9 (Friday, January 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2243-2244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00528]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037231; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; amendment.

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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, Alaska State Office (BLM Alaska) has amended a 
Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register on May 
4, 2010. This notice amends the minimum number of individuals and 
number of associated funerary objects in a collection removed from 
Umnak Island, Aleutians West Borough, AK.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after February 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Miriam (Nicole) Hayes, Bureau of Land Management, Alaska 
State Office, 222 W. 7th Avenue, #13, Anchorage, AK 99513, telephone 
(907) 271-4354, 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 amendments 
and determinations in this notice, including the results of 
consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by 
BLM Alaska.

Amendment

    This notice amends the determinations published in a Notice of 
Inventory Completion in the Federal Register (73 FR 47224, August 13, 
2008) and corrected on May 4, 2010 (75 FR 23804-23805). Repatriation of 
the items in the original and corrected Notices of Inventory Completion 
has not occurred. Additional human remains and associated funerary 
objects have been found.
    From the Chaluka Site at the Native Village of Nikolski, Ogalodox 
site, Sandy Beach site, and nearby smaller sites on Umnak Island, 
Aleutians West Borough, AK, 290 individuals were removed (previously 
identified as 222 individuals). The 1,546 associated funerary objects 
(previously identified as 276 associated funerary objects) include a 
variety of stone, bone, shell, and ivory items identified as harpoons, 
scrapers, perforators, abraders, adzes, awls, gravers, reamers, 
sinkers, labrets, a comb, a necklace, knives, needles, pins, bowls, 
pestles, spoons, hooks, flakes, and undetermined tool or personal 
adornment fragments.

Determinations (as amended)

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the BLM Alaska has determined that:
     The human remains represent the physical remains of 290 
individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 1,546 objects 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 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 February 12, 2024. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the 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. The BLM Alaska is responsible for sending a copy of this 
notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations 
identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
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U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, 
10.13, and 10.14.

    Dated: January 5, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-00528 Filed 1-11-24; 8:45 am]
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