[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 39 (Monday, February 28, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page ]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-4491]
[Federal Register: February 28, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Inventory Completion of Native American Human Remains and
Funerary Objects From Hawaii in the Control of the U.S. Marine Corps
Air Station, Kaneohe Bay
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d), of
the completion of the inventory of human remains and funerary objects
from Hawaii in the control of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station,
Kaneohe Bay. The remains are curated in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop
Museum, Honolulu, HI.
A detailed inventory and assessment of these human remains and
funerary objects has been made for the U.S. Marine Corps by the staff
of the Bishop Museum, in consultation with representatives of Hui
Malama I Na Kupuna 'O Hawai'i Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
The latter two organizations qualify as Native Hawaiian organizations
as defined in 25 U.S.C. 3001(11).
The human remains and funerary objects represent a minimum of 1582
individuals and 281 funerary objects recovered from the Mokapu
Peninsula, U.S. Marine Corps Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Island of Oahu,
and curated at the Bishop Museum. The majority of the remains were
recovered during archaeological excavations conducted in 1938-1940 by
Gordon T. Bowles (University of Hawaii) and Kenneth P. Emory (Bishop
Museum), and in 1957 by Robert N. Bowen (University of Hawaii). The
rest of the remains were recovered from inadvertent discoveries and
archaeological monitoring of construction activities on the peninsula.
A minimum of 1,544 individuals were recovered from pre-contact
(prior to 1778) graves. A number of these individuals were represented
by incomplete sets of skeletal remains, and several of the isolated
individuals represented secondarily deposited incomplete sets of
remains removed from their original context. The pre-contact funerary
objects included kupe'e (wristlets made of dog teeth), basalt flakes,
marine shells, kukui (Aleurites moluccana) nuts, and the bones of fish,
birds, pigs, dogs, and turtles.
A minimum of 38 individuals were recovered from post-Contact (after
1778) graves during a construction project in 1975. The post-Contact
funerary objects included kupe'e, and lei 'opu'u and lei niho (pendants
made of calcite, shell, and whale bone), as well as bone and shell
buttons, metal fragments, mirror glass, bottle fragments, a metal ring,
ivory beads, bone and glass, metal nails, and metal parts of a smoking
pipe.
Based on the Bishop Museum report of the results of the inventory
and assessment, officials of the U.S. Marine Corps 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 remains and
present-day Native Hawaiian organizations. U.S. Marine Corps officials,
based on the Bishop Museum report, determined that no lineal
descendants of the human remains could be identified.
This notice has been sent to officials of Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'O
Hawai'i Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Representatives of any
other Native Hawaiian organization which believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with these human remains and funerary objects
should contact Mr. John Bigay, Planner-in-Charge, Pacific Division,
Naval Engineering Facilities Command, Pearl Harbor, HI, 96860-7300,
(808) 471-9338, before April 1, 1994.
Dated: February 23, 1994.
C. Timothy McKeown,
Acting Departmental Consulting Archeologist, Chief, Archeological
Assistance Division.
[FR Doc. 94-4491 Filed 2-25-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F
