73440 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 175 / Tuesday, September 10, 2024 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–NPS0038655; 

PPWOCRADN0–PCU00RP14.R50000] 

Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management, Alaska State Office, 

Anchorage, AK 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native 

American Graves Protection and 

Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Bureau 

of Land Management, Alaska State 

Office (BLM Alaska) has completed an 

inventory of human remains and 

associated funerary objects, presently 

located at the University of 

Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology 

and Anthropology (Penn Museum), in 

consultation with the appropriate 

Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 

organizations and has determined that 

there is a cultural affiliation between the 

human remains and cultural items, and 

present-day Indian Tribes or Native 

Hawaiian organizations indicated in this 

notice. 

DATES: Repatriation of the human 

remains and associated funerary objects 

in this notice may occur on or after 

October 10, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Robin O. Mills, Bureau of 

Land Management, 222 W 7th Avenue 

#13, Anchorage, AK 99513, telephone 

(907) 474–2359, email rmills@blm.gov. 

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 the BLM Alaska, 

and additional information on the 

determinations in this notice, including 

the results of consultation, can be found 

in the inventory or related records. The 

National Park Service is not responsible 

for the determinations in this notice. 

Abstract of Information Available 

Based on the information available, 

Native American human remains 

representing at least 43 individuals, 

along with 45 associated funerary 

objects, have been identified at the Penn 

Museum. These remains and items were 

collected in 1918 by William Van Valin 

when he was hired by the Penn 

Museum to lead the John Wanamaker 

Expedition to Alaska (1917–1919). In 

April 1928, the human remains were 

transferred to The Wistar Institute, 

Philadelphia, whereas the cultural items 

were retained at the Penn Museum. In 

1956, the human remains were 

transferred back to the Penn Museum, 

where they presently reside. Records at 

the Penn Museum indicate that the 43 

individuals found are represented as 

follows: 20 are represented by craniums 

and mandibles only, 12 by craniums 

only, four by mandibles only, five by 

post-cranial elements only, and one by 

a mandible and post-cranial elements. 

Four are children (ca.4–15 years), three 

are adolescents (ca.15 to 17 years), 35 

are adults (ca.20 to ca.60 years), and one 

is of unknown age. The children, 

adolescents, and unknown aged 

individual are of unknown or uncertain 

sex. Of the adults, 18 are male and 17 

are female. No known individuals are 

identified among the 43 sets of human 

remains. Two of the remains are from 

Nunavak, 11 from the general Point 

Barrow region, 11 from or probably from 

Kugusugaruk, 17 from Barrow or 

present-day Utqiagvik, and two from 

either Nunavak or Kugusugaruk. The 

remains from Nunavak and 

Kugusugaruk date to the Birnirk culture 

(500 CE—1000 CE), while those from 

near Utqiagvik or the general Point 

Barrow region are of uncertain or 

historic age (ca. 1500 CE—1900 CE). 

The human remains derive from the 

Kugusugaruk site (49–BAR–00003) 

located 6.6 miles southwest of presentday Utqiagvik, Alaska, the Nunavak site 

(49–BAR–00037 and/or 49–BAR–00038) 

located three and four miles southwest 

of Utqiagvik, respectively, the tundra 

area located inland from present-day 

Utqiagvik, and other currently unknown 

loci in the general Point Barrow region 

of Alaska. 

The 45 associated funerary objects are 

tool handles, arrowheads and arrow 

shafts, other stone tools, drinking tubes, 

sinew twisters, a snow shovel rim, 

bowls, and other serving or eating 

vessels. These objects derive from 

Kugusugaruk; available information 

from the Penn Museum indicates that 

none of the 45 associated funerary 

objects are associated with any of the 

human remains at the Penn Museum, 

but are instead associated with human 

remains that are or were located at the 

Smithsonian Institute (SI), National 

Museum of Natural History (NMNH). 

Cultural Affiliation 

Based on the information available 

and the results of consultation, cultural 

affiliation is reasonably identified by the 

geographical location or acquisition 

history of the human remains and 

associated funerary objects described in 

this notice. 

Determinations 

The BLM Alaska has determined that: 

• The human remains described in 

this notice represent the physical 

remains of 43 individuals of Native 

American ancestry. 

• The 45 objects described in this 

notice 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. 

• There is a reasonable connection 

between the human remains and 

funerary objects described in this notice 

and the Native Village of Barrow Inupiat 

Traditional Government. 

Additional Requestors and Disposition 

Written requests for repatriation of the 

human remains and associated funerary 

objects in this notice must be sent to the 

authorized representative identified in 

this notice under 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 October 10, 2024. If competing 

requests for repatriation are received, 

the 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. The BLM Alaska is 

responsible for sending a copy of this 

notice to the Indian Tribes and Native 

Hawaiian organizations identified in 

this notice. 

Authority: Native American Graves 

Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 

U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing 

regulations, 43 CFR 10.10. 

Dated: August 29, 2024. 

Melanie O’Brien, 

Manager, National NAGPRA Program. 

[FR Doc. 2024–20290 Filed 9–9–24; 8:45 am] 

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