Appendix B to Part 10 - Sample Notice of Inventory Completion

Link to an amendment published at 78 FR 27084, May 9, 2013.

The following is an example of a Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register .

National Park Service

Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains and Associated Funerary Objects from Hancock County, ME, in the Control of the National Park Service.

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

Notice is hereby given following provisions of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d), of completion of the inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects from a site in Hancock County, ME, that are presently in the control of the National Park Service.

A detailed inventory and assessment of these human remains has been made by National Park Service curatorial staff, contracted specialists in physical anthropology and prehistoric archeology, and representatives of the Penobscot Nation, Aroostook Band of Micmac, Houlton Band of Maliseet, and the Passamaquoddy Nation, identified collectively hereafter as the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine.

The partial remains of at least seven individuals (including five adults, one subadult, and one child) were recovered in 1977 from a single grave at the Fernald Point Site (ME Site 43-24), a prehistoric shell midden on Mount Desert Island, within the boundary of Acadia National Park. A bone harpoon head, a modified beaver tooth, and several animal and fish bone fragments were found associated with the eight individuals. Radiocarbon assays indicate the burial site dates between 1035-1155 AD. The human remains and associated funerary objects have been catalogued as ACAD-5747, 5749, 5750, 5751, 5752, 5783, 5784. The partial remains of an eighth individual (an elderly male) was also recovered in 1977 from a second grave at the Fernald Point Site. No associated funerary objects were recovered with this individual. Radiocarbon assays indicate the second burial site dates between 480-680 AD. The human remains have been catalogued as ACAD-5748. The human remains and associated funerary objects of all nine individuals are currently in the possession of the University of Maine, Orono, ME.

Inventory of the human remains and associated funerary objects and review of the accompanying documentation indicates that no known individuals were identifiable. A representative of the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine has identified the Acadia National Park area as a historic gathering place for his people and stated his belief that there exists a relationship of shared group identity between these individuals and the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine. The Prehistoric Subcommittee of the Maine State Historic Preservation Office's Archaeological Advisory Committee has found it reasonable to trace a shared group identity from the Late Prehistoric Period (1000-1500 AD) inhabitants of Maine as an undivided whole to the four modern Indian tribes known collectively as the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine on the basis of geographic proximity; survivals of stone, ceramic and perishable material culture skills; and probable linguistic continuity across the Late Prehistoric/Contact Period boundary. In a 1979 article, Dr. David Sanger, the archeologist who conducted the 1977 excavations at the Fernald Point Site and uncovered the abovementioned burials, recognizes a relationship between Maine sites dating to the Ceramic Period (2,000 B.P.-1600 A.D.) and present-day Algonkian speakers generally known as Abenakis, including the Micmac, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penboscot, Kennebec, and Pennacook groups.

Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the National Park Service have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity which can be reasonably traced between these human remains and associated funerary objects and the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine.

This notice has been sent to officials of the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine. Representatives of any other Indian tribe which believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated funerary objects should contact Len Bobinchock, Acting Superintendent, Acadia National Park, P.O. Box 177, Bar Harbor, ME 04609, telephone: [phone], before August 31, 1994. Repatriation of these human remains and associated funerary objects to the Wabanaki Tribes of Maine may begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.

Dated: July 21, 1994