[Federal Register: April 20, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 77)]
[Notices]
[Page 20331-20332]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20ap01-100]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the U.S.
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cape Cod National
Seashore, South Wellfleet, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9,
of the completion of the inventory of human remains and associated
funerary objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the
Interior, National Park Service, Cape Cod National Seashore, South
Wellfleet, MA.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2(c). The
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the
National Park Service unit that has control or possession of these
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships is
not responsible for the determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by National
Park Service professional staff in consultation with the Wampanoag
Confederation, whose membership consists of the Federally-recognized
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head

[[Page 20332]]

(Aquinnah), and the non-Federally-recognized Assonet Band of the
Wampanoag Nation and the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council.
    In 1981, human remains representing one individual were recovered
during a legally authorized National Park Service archeological survey
in the area of the Salt Pond, located within park boundaries in
Eastham, MA. No known individual was identified. No associated funerary
objects are present. A Jack's Reef corner-notched point found at the
survey site, along with radiocarbon samples from nearby test pits,
indicate that the human remains are dated to the Middle Woodland period
(A.D. 100-1000)
    On July 13, 1983, human remains representing one individual were
collected by visitors to the park from an eroding dune area on Griffin
Island in Wellfleet, MA. No known individual was identified. No
associated funerary objects are present. On the basis of the state of
preservation of the remains as well as material from other
archeological survey sites in the immediate area, these remains are
dated to the Middle to Late Woodland period (A.D. 500.0-1600).
Archeological evidence indicates a continuity of occupation during the
Middle and Late Woodland to the Historic period. Historical
documentation indicates that the Nauset people occupied the outer Cape
Cod area in the early 1600s. Some descendants of the Nausets are
believed to have been absorbed by the Wampanoag people in the 1700s.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, the Cape Cod National
Seashore superintendent has determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR
10.2(d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical
remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry. The Cape Cod
National Seashore superintendent also has determined that, pursuant to
25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity
that can be reasonably traced between these Native American human
remains and the Wampanoag Confederation, whose membership consists of
the Federally-recognized Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and
the non-Federally-recognized Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation and
the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Wampanoag Tribe of
Gay Head (Aquinnah), Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, and Mashpee
Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council. Representatives of any other Indian
tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with these human
remains should contact Maria Burks, Superintendent, Cape Cod National
Seashore, 99 Marconi Site Road, South Wellfleet, MA 02667, telephone
(508) 349-3785, before May 21, 2001. Repatriation of the human remains
to the Wampanoag Confederation, whose membership consists of the
Federally- recognized Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and the
non-Federally-recognized Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation and the
Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, may begin after that date if
no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: March 22, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-9752 Filed 4-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F