[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 188 (Monday, September 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 50964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-25730]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains
and Associated Funerary Objects From Chugachuk Island, AK in the
Possession of the University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, AK
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 (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C.
3003(d), of the completion of an inventory of human remains and
associated funerary objects from Chugachuk Island, AK in the possession
of the University of Alaska Museum, Fairbanks, AK.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by University
of Alaska Museum professional staff in consultation with
representatives of Chugach Alaska Corporation, Cook Inlet Region, Inc.,
Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Ninilchik Village Traditional Council, Port
Graham Village Council, Nanwalek Village Council, Native Village of
Salamatof, and the Seldovia Village Tribe.
In 1967, human remains representing five individuals were excavated
from a large midden on the south side of Chugachuk Island, Kachemak
Bay, AK by David Schimberg and Peter Schlederman during an
archeological survey and salvage project sponsored by the University of
Alaska-Fairbanks Department of Anthropology and the Institute of Arctic
Biology. No known individuals were identified. The sixteen associated
funerary objects include faunal remains.
Based on cultural material of the site, including chipped lithics,
slate, modified cobbles, a stone lamp fragment, ochre, and worked bone,
this midden site has been determined to be pre-European contact in age.
The cultural material is consistent with objects found within sites
known to be affiliated with Chugach Alaska Corporation, Cook Inlet
Region, Inc., Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Ninichik Village Traditional
Council, Port Graham Village Council, Nanwalek Village Council, Native
Village of Salamatof, and the Seldovia Village Tribe, and Chugachuk
Island lies within the traditional territories of these Native Alaska
Villages and Native Corporations. Consultation with Native Elders of
these Native Alaska Villages indicates there is a traditional
association with Chugachuk Island and these villages.
Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the
University of Alaska Museum have determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR
10.2(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical
remains of five individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of
the University of Alaska Museum have also determined that, pursuant to
25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the sixteen objects listed 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.
Lastly, officials of the University of Alaska Museum 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 Native
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Chugach
Alaska Corporation, Cook Inlet Region, Inc., Kenaitze Indian Tribe,
Ninilchik Village Traditional Council, Port Graham Village Council,
Nanwalek Village Council, Native Village of Salamatof, and the Seldovia
Village Tribe.
This notice has been sent to officials of the Chugach Alaska
Corporation, Cook Inlet Region, Inc., Kenaitze Indian Tribe, Ninilchik
Village Traditional Council, Port Graham Village Council, Nanwalek
Village Council, Native Village of Salamatof, and the Seldovia Village
Tribe. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself
to be culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated
funerary objects should contact Gray Selinger, Special Projects
Manager, University of Alaska Museum, 907 Yukon Drive, Fairbanks, AK
99775-1200; telephone: (907) 474-6117, before November 28, 1997.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to
the Chugach Alaska Corporation, Cook Inlet Region, Inc., Kenaitze
Indian Tribe, Ninilchik Village Traditional Council, Port Graham
Village Council, Nanwalek Village Council, Native Village of Salamatof,
and the Seldovia Village Tribe may begin after that date if no
additional claimants come forward.
Dated: September 23, 1997.
Francis P. McManamon,
Department Consulting Archeologist, Manager, Archeology and Ethnography
Program.
[FR Doc. 97-25730 Filed 9-26-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M
