[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 50 (Thursday, March 15, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Page 12189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-4730]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Forest Service, Tongass National Forest, Juneau, 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 Agriculture, Forest 
Service, Tongass National Forest, Juneau, AK. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from Admiralty Island National 
Monument in southeast Alaska.
    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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Angoon Community Association; 
Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes; Kake Tribal 
Corporation; Kootznoowoo Incorporated; Organized Village of Kake; 
Sealaska Corporation; Shee Atika Inc.; and Sitka Tribe of Alaska. The 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service also consulted with the 
Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood Camps in Angoon, Kake and 
Sitka, non-federally recognized Indian groups.
    In August 1989, human remains representing a minimum of 18 
individuals were removed from the Wilson Cove Rockshelter site, 
southwest Admiralty Island, AK, by Forest Service archeologists. No 
known individuals have been identified. The four associated funerary 
objects are four wood planks.
    The Wilson Cove Rockshelter site is divided into three sites called 
Rockshelter 1, 2, and 3. The four wood planks are believed to have been 
part of a bentwood box associated with the human remains at Rockshelter 
3. Radiocarbon dates from charcoal and shell from Rockshelter 1 were 
755 B.C. - 200 B.C. and 40 B.C - A.D. 230. A radiocarbon date for 
Rockshelter 3 was 390 B.C. - A.D. 90.
    A professional physical anthropologist analyzed the human remains 
from all three sites and determined they are Native American. 
Ethnographic information and archeological data indicate that the 
Wilson Cove Rockshelter site is within the traditional territory of the 
Angoon Tlingit. Oral traditions of the Angoon Tlingit confirm their 
affiliation with this site. Descendants of the Angoon Tlingit are 
members of Kootznoowoo Incorporated.
    Officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service 
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human 
remains described above represent the physical remains of 18 
individuals of Native American ancestry. Officials of the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service also have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the four 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. Department of Agriculture, 
Forest Service 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 Kootznoowoo Incorporated.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Forrest Cole, Forest Supervisor, Tongass 
National Forest, Federal Building, Ketchikan, AK 99901-6591, telephone 
(907) 225-3101, before April 16, 2007. Repatriation of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to Kootznoowoo Incorporated may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service is responsible 
for notifying the Angoon Community Association; Central Council of the 
Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes; Kake Tribal Corporation; Kootznoowoo 
Incorporated; Organized Village of Kake; Sealaska Corporation; Shee 
Atika Inc.; Sitka Tribe of Alaska; and Alaska Native Brotherhood and 
Sisterhood Camps in Angoon, Kake and Sitka, non-federally recognized 
Indian groups, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 13, 2007
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-4730 Filed 3-14-07; 8:45 am]
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