[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 25, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73366-73367]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23539]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036824; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Anchorage, AK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM Alaska) has completed an inventory of human 
remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there 
is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated 
funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from near the Native Village of Ambler in the Northwest Arctic 
Borough, AK.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after November 24, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Robert E. King, Bureau of Land Management, 222 W 7th Avenue, 
#13, Anchorage, AK 99513, telephone (907) 271-5510, email 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6012520b090e0720020c0d4e070f16"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="0c7e3e6765626b4c6e6061226b637a">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of BLM 
Alaska. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice. Additional information on the 
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the inventory or related records held by BLM Alaska.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 11 individuals were removed 
from the Northwest Arctic Borough near the Native Village of Ambler, 
AK. In the 1950s or 1960s, the human remains were removed from three 
site locations along the Kobuk River--``Ambler 1,'' ``Ivisahpat,'' and 
``Onion Portage''--during a series of expeditions sponsored by the 
Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology at Brown University in Providence, 
RI, and conducted under the direction of Douglas Anderson. Following 
their removal, the human remains, which are over 150 years old, were 
placed in the custody of the Haffenreffer Museum, where they are 
currently held. The seven associated funerary objects are three caribou 
bone fragments, two stone flakes, and two stone or bone items.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, 
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity 
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures 
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: archeological and oral traditional.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, BLM Alaska has determined that:
    <bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 11 individuals of Native American ancestry.
    <bullet> The seven objects described in this notice that 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.
    <bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Native Village of Ambler.

[[Page 73367]]

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after November 24, 2023. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, BLM Alaska must 
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. BLM Alaska is responsible for sending a copy of this notice 
to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.

(Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 
10.10, and 10.14.)

     Dated: October 18, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-23539 Filed 10-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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