FR Doc E8-15902[Federal Register: July 14, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 135)]
[Notices]
[Page 40371-40372]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14jy08-94]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7, Anchorage, AK
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7, Anchorage, AK. The human remains
and associated funerary objects were removed from Kagamil Island, AK.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3).
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible
for the determinations in this notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Region 7 professional staff and forensic
anthropologists from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, and with
assistance from the Alaska State Office of History and Archaeology, in
consultation with representatives of the Chaluka Corporation.
Between 1947 and 1950, human remains representing a minimum of 30
individuals were removed from Cold Cave on Kagamil Island, AK, by
Theodore P. Bank II, an ethno-botanist, and William S. Laughlin, a
physical anthropologist. The human remains were sent to the University
of Michigan. In 1982, at the request of the Ounalashka Corporation and
the National Park Service, the collection was moved to the University
of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks. In 2002, the human remains and
associated funerary artifacts were sent to The Museum of the Aleutians
in Unalaska, AK, at the request of the Ounalashka Corporation and the
museum. No known individuals were identified. The 127 associated
funerary objects are 42 assorted bidarka pieces; 1 lot of wood
fragments and other wooden objects; 1 wood bidarka paddle; 1 wooden
spear shaft; 4 skin fragments from bidarka; 3 bone wedges; 1 bone
bladder plug; 1 bone rack peg; 2 toggles; 3 bone points; 1 bone harpoon
point; 1 bird bone awl; 2 bone awls; 1 digging tool; 1 bone fore-shaft;
1 bone hook; 1 bone fishhook shank; 1 bone artifact; 6 bird bones; 1
ivory labret; 1 walrus tusk; 1 curved antler fragment; 7 pieces of
cordage; 1 cord wrapped with skin; 1 piece of matting with black
decoration; 23 matting fragments; 1 piece of matting containing duff,
wood and bones; 1 piece of matting with grass and hair; 2 loose human
hairs; 1 lot of stuffing moss in unknown quantities; 1 grass bundle; 1
lot of grass padding; 1 birch bark fragment; 1 stone chip; 1 obsidian
point; 2 basalt points; 1 broken basalt blade; 1 worked pumice block; 2
pieces of bird feather coat remains; and 2 sea otter pelt remains.
Between 1947 and 1950, human remains representing a minimum of one
individual were removed from Warm Cave on Kagamil Island, AK, by
Theodore P. Bank II, an ethno-botanist, and William S. Laughlin, a
physical anthropologist. The human remains were sent to the University
of Michigan. In 1982, at the request of the Ounalashka Corporation and
the National Park Service, the collection was moved to the University
of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks. In 2002, the human remains and
associated funerary artifacts were sent to The Museum of the Aleutians,
at the request of the Ounalashka Corporation and the museum. No known
individual was identified. The 23 associated funerary objects are 7
round wooden shafts; 5 wood pieces; 2 wood pieces with thong attached;
1 wooden piece bound with gut; 1 wood object with peg holes; 1 piece
birch bark; 3 pieces of matting, hair and fiber; 1 piece of cordage; 1
obsidian flake; and 1 worked shale fragment.
Between 1947 and 1950, human remains representing a minimum of four
individuals were removed from Mask Cave on Kagamil Island, AK, by
Theodore P. Bank II, an ethno-botanist. The human remains were sent to
the University of Michigan. In 1982, at the request of the Ounalashka
Corporation and the National Park Service, the collection was moved to
the University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks. In 2002, the human
remains and associated funerary artifacts were sent to The Museum of
the Aleutians, at the request of the Ounalashka Corporation and the
[[Page 40372]]
museum. No known individuals were identified. The 60 funerary objects
are 3 complete or nearly complete painted wood masks; approximately 29
mask fragments; 4 figurines and carved wooden objects; 17 bidarka
pieces including a keel piece and a cross piece; 1 ivory labret; 1
ivory needle; 2 stone artifacts; 1 basalt flake; 1 shell object; and 1
lot of duff collected near a mask.
All individuals found within these caves are believed to be
associated with the modern day populations of Umnak Island and Chaluka
Corporation. There are no radiocarbon dates available for the human
remains. All known dated cave burials from the Aleutians are younger
than 2,000 years old (Black 1982, pg 24; Black 2003, pg 36; Hayes
2002). The human remains collected from burial caves on Kagamil Island
were interred using traditional Aleut burial practices. The burial
context and physical traits of the human remains are consistent with
those observed for pre-contact Aleut populations. Skeletal morphology
of present-day Aleut populations is similar to that of prehistoric
Aleut populations and demonstrates biological affiliation between
present-day Aleut groups and prehistoric populations in the Aleutian
Islands.
Analysis by the University of Alaska, Anchorage, with the
assistance of the Alaska State Office of History and Archaeology,
included cranio-metric analysis and non-metric analysis of the post
cranial skeletal human remains. The use of radiography was used to
determine the contents of a small mummy bundle from Warm Cave. Analysis
of the human remains concluded that these individuals are all of Aleut
origin and are related culturally and geographically to each other and
to the modern day inhabitants of Umnak Island, which are members of the
Chaluka Corporation and Native Village of Nikolski. Cultural
affiliation between the late prehistoric populations on Kagamil Island
and the Chaluka Corporation is demonstrated by recent historical
records. The Islands of the Four Mountains were occupied by a
culturally distinct group of which little is known. Contact with
Russian explorers was made in A.D. 1741. In the late 1700s, with
assistance from Russian explorers, the Umnak Aleuts waged war on the
people of the Islands of Four Mountains and around A.D. 1766 to 1772,
that group had been substantially destroyed. Survivors of the conflict
were incorporated into villages on Umnak.
Officials of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7 have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains
described above represent the physical remains of 35 individuals of
Native American ancestry. Officials of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Region 7 also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001
(3)(A), the 210 objects 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. Lastly, officials of
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7 have determined that,
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group
identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native American
human remains and associated funerary objects and the Chaluka
Corporation and Native Village of Nikolski.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Debra Corbett, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
1011 East Tudor Road, Anchorage, AK 99503, telephone (907) 786-3399,
before August 13, 2008. Repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the Chaluka Corporation and Native
Village of Nikolski may proceed after that date if no additional
claimants come forward.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 7 is responsible for
notifying the Chaluka Corporation and Native Village of Nikolski that
this notice has been published.
Dated: June 5, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-15902 Filed 7-11-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S
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