[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 20 (Tuesday, January 30, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5930-5931]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-01803]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037316; 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 near Point Hope in the North Slope Borough, AK.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after February 29, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Miriam (Nicole) Hayes, 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 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the inventory or related records held by BLM, Alaska 
State Office.

Description

    During 1939-1941, human remains representing, at minimum, 706 
individuals were removed from numerous burial locations including at 
Tigara, Ipiutak, and Jabbertown, all within two miles of Point Hope, 
AK. These include ones from within what is presently referred to as the 
Ipiutak early village site that is now within a National Historic 
Landmark in the southern shore of Ipiutak Lagoon as well as a few from 
an early 20th century cemetery. The human remains, which are estimated 
to range in age from around 100 years old up to 2,500 years old, were 
removed under federal permit in 1939-1941 by archeologists Froelich 
Rainey and Helge Larsen and others associated with the University of 
Alaska (UAF) Museum in Fairbanks, AK (now the University of Alaska 
Museum of the North (UAMN)) and the American Museum of Natural History 
(AMNH). The human remains were all initially brought back to the AMNH 
where 701 are presently located with the other five in the UAMN. There 
are 2,174 associated funerary objects, with 1,462 in the AMNH and 712 
in the UAMN.

[[Page 5931]]

    In 1960, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were removed by Fredrick H. West, an archeologist associated with the 
UAF, from an archeological site near Cape Thompson, AK, about 26 miles 
southeast of Point Hope, AK. No associated funerary objects are 
present. These human remains are currently in the UAMN.
    In 1961, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals 
were removed by W. O. Pruit, an archeologist associated with the UAF, 
from an archeological site near Cape Thompson, AK, about 26 miles 
southeast of Point Hope, AK. No associated funerary objects are 
present. These human remains are currently in the UAMN.
    In 1961, human remains representing, at minimum, 46 individuals 
were removed by Otto W. Geist, an archeologist associated with the UAF, 
from an archeological site during construction of an airfield near 
Point Hope, AK. No associated funerary objects are present. These human 
remains are currently in the UAMN.
    In 1975, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed by Anne Shinkwin, an archeologist associated with the UAF, 
as a surface collection from an archeological site within Point Hope, 
AK. No associated funerary objects are present. These human remains are 
currently in the UAMN.

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 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 758 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 2,174 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 described in this notice 
and the Native Village of Point Hope, Point Hope, AK.

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 29, 2024. 
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 Tribes and Native 
Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.
    This notice was submitted before the effective date of the revised 
regulations (88 FR 86452, December 13, 2023, effective January 12, 
2024). As the notice conforms to the mandatory format of the Federal 
Register and includes the required information, the National Park 
Service is publishing this notice as submitted.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: January 24, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-01803 Filed 1-29-24; 8:45 am]
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