2023-27376. Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, AK

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Alaska Museum of the North intends to repatriate a certain cultural item that meets the definition of an unassociated funerary object and that has a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural item was removed from the Aleutians West Census Area, AK.

DATES:

Repatriation of the cultural item in this notice may occur on or after January 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Josh Reuther, University of Alaska Museum of the North, 1962 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

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 University of Alaska Museum of the North. 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 summary or related records held by the University of Alaska Museum of the North.

Description

The one cultural item was removed from the Aleutians West Census Area, AK. In 1958, a single unassociated funerary object was collected from Unalaska Island by Lt. William Trafton and deposited at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. The exact location is unknown; the provenience is listed as Dutch Harbor. The unassociated funerary object is an ivory labret.

Cultural Affiliation

The cultural item in this notice is 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, the University of Alaska Museum of the North has determined that:

• The one cultural item described above 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
• There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska.

Requests for Repatriation

Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural item in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES . Requests for repatriation may be submitted by 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 cultural item in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January 12, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the University of Alaska Museum of the North must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural item is considered a single request and not competing requests. The University of Alaska Museum of the North is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, 10.10, and 10.14.

Dated: December 6, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.