[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13368-13369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03582]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037416; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and 
Ethnology, Harvard University (PMAE) 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 collected at the 
Office of Indian Affairs Government School, Akutan Island, AK.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after March 25, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Jane Pickering, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 
Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, telephone 
(617) 496-2374, 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 the 
PMAE. 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 the PMAE.

[[Page 13369]]

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 14 individuals were 
collected at the Office of Indian Affairs Government School, Akutan 
Island, AK. The human remains are hair clippings collected from one 
individual who was recorded as being 68 years old, one individual 
recorded as being 67 years old, one individual who was recorded as 
being 65 years old, one individual who was recorded as being 47 years 
old, three individuals who were recorded as being 45 years old, two 
individuals who were recorded as being 40 years old, one individual 
recorded as being 30 years old, one individual who was recorded as 
being 19 years old, two individuals recorded as being 14 years old, and 
one individual recorded as being 13 years old. All individuals were 
identified as ``Aleut.'' Elizabeth Burrows took the hair clippings at 
the Office of Indian Affairs Government School, Akutan Island between 
1930 and 1933. Burrows sent the hair clippings to George Woodbury, who 
donated the hair clippings to the PMAE in 1935. No associated funerary 
objects are present.

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: kinship and anthropological.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, 
and Native Hawaiian organizations, the PMAE has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 14 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 Native Village of Akutan.

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 March 25, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the PMAE 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. The PMAE is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribe 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: February 9, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-03582 Filed 2-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P