[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 78 (Monday, April 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17719-17720]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9785]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains
in the Control of Acadia National Park, National Park Service, Bar
Harbor, ME
AGENCY: National Park Service
ACTION: Notice
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Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C.
3003(d), of the completion of the inventory of human remains in the
control of the National Park Service at Acadia National Park, Bar
Harbor, ME.
A detailed inventory and assessment of the human remains has been
made by professional staff of the National Park Service in consultation
with representatives of the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine,
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of
Maine, and Penobscot Nation, identified collectively hereafter as the
Wabanaki Tribes of Maine.
Human remains representing nine individuals and associated funerary
objects from the Fernald Point site (ME Site 43-24), a precontact shell
midden within the Park boundaries, was previously published in a Notice
of Inventory Completion dated July 21, 1994. This site represents the
Ceramic Period (1-1600 AD).
In 1995, additional human remains from the nine previously reported
individuals were located among faunal remains of the Park's museum
collection. Three human bone fragments representing a minimum of one
individual from the same site were also discovered. No known
individuals were identified. No further associated funerary objects are
present.
Evidence presented by representatives of the Wabanaki Tribes of
Maine identifies Acadia National Park area as both a historic and
precontact gathering place for 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
[[Page 17720]]
Tribes of Maine on the basis of geographic proximity; survivals and
continuity 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 above mentioned burials, recognizes a relationship
between Maine sites dating to the Ceramic Period (1- 1600 AD) and
present-day Algonquian speakers generally known as Abenakis, including
the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet
Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Nation.
Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the National
Park Service have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10 (d)(1), the
human remains listed above represent the physical remains of at least
ten individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the National
Park Service have also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2),
there is a relationship of shared group identity which can be
reasonably traced between the Native American human remains and the
Wabanaki Tribes of Maine representing the Aroostook Band of Micmac
Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine,
Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Nation.
This notice has been sent to officials of the Aroostook Band of
Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine,
Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Nation. Representatives of
any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated
with these human remains should contact Mr. Paul Haertel,
Superintendent, Acadia National Park, P.O. Box 177, Bar Harbor, ME
04609; telephone: (207) 288-0374, May 22, 1996. Repatriation of the
human remains may begin after that date if no additional claimants come
forward.
Dated: April 10, 1996
C. Timothy McKeown
Acting Departmental Consulting ArcheologistArcheology & Ethnography
Program
[FR Doc. 96-9785 Filed 4-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F
