Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Amherst College Museum of Natural History, Amherst College, Amherst, MA, 65138-65139 [E9-29289]

Download as PDF 65138 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 9, 2009 / Notices WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES Mail: Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 2127 SE Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR 97365. In-Person Viewing or Pickup: Call (542) 867–4550 to make an appointment during regular business hours to view the CCP/FONSI at 2127 SE Marine Science Drive, Newport, OR. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Roy W. Lowe, Project Leader, (542) 867–4550. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Introduction With this notice, we complete the current CCP process for the Oregon Islands, Three Arch Rocks, and Cape Meares Refuges. We started this process with a notice of intent published in the Federal Register (71 FR 62605, October 26, 2006). We released the Draft CCP/ Environmental Assessment (EA) to the public, requesting comments in a notice of availability in the Federal Register (74 FR 28270, June 15, 2009). The Oregon Islands, Three Arch Rocks, and Cape Meares Refuges are parts of the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Planning for these Refuges occurred simultaneously because all three Refuges consist of rocks, reefs, islands, and headlands located along the Oregon coast, and many of the same issues and management opportunities occur at all three Refuges. These Refuges span the coast of Oregon and support a rich diversity of wildlife habitats including coastal rocks, reefs, islands, and forested and grasscovered headlands. Oregon Islands Refuge includes 1,854 rocks, reefs, islands, and two headland units, spanning 320 miles of the Oregon Coast. With the exception of Tillamook Rock, all of the rocks, reefs, and islands within the Refuge are included in the Oregon Islands Wilderness Stewardship Area. The Three Arch Rocks Refuge and Wilderness Stewardship area is located offshore in the Pacific Ocean, one-half mile west of Oceanside, Oregon, in Tillamook County. The Refuge encompasses nine rocks and islands with a total land area of 15 acres. Cape Meares Refuge consists of vertical coastal cliffs, rock outcroppings, and rolling headlands with old-growth forest dominated by Sitka spruce and western hemlock. We announce our decision and the availability of the CCP/WSP/FONSI for Oregon Islands, Three Arch Rocks, and Cape Meares Refuges in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) [40 CFR 1506.6(b)] requirements. We completed a thorough analysis of impacts on the human environment, which we included in the EA that accompanied the Draft CCP. VerDate Nov<24>2008 15:02 Dec 08, 2009 Jkt 220001 The CCP will guide us in managing and administering the Refuges for the next 15 years. Alternative 2, as we described in the Draft CCP/EA, is the foundation for the completed CCP. We made minor additions and corrections to the CCP based on public comments we received on the Draft CCP/EA. Background The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd–668ee) (Administration Act), as amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, requires us to develop a CCP for each national wildlife refuge. The purpose for developing a CCP is to provide refuge managers with a 15-year direction for achieving refuge purposes and contributing toward the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System, consistent with sound principles of fish and wildlife management, conservation, legal mandates, and our policies. In addition to outlining broad management direction on conserving wildlife and their habitats, CCPs identify wildlifedependent recreational opportunities available to the public, including opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, and environmental education and interpretation. We will review and update the CCP at least every 15 years in accordance with the Administration Act. CCP Alternatives, Including the Selected Alternative We addressed several issues in our Draft CCP/EA through development and evaluation of two alternatives for managing the Refuges. The Draft CCP/ EA was available for a 30-day public review and comment period. The Service received 11 comments on the Draft CCP, which were incorporated into or responded to in the completed CCP. No substantive changes were required to address public comments. One new strategy was added to emphasize communication with all branches of the military that conduct flights along the Oregon coast to educate pilots about the Refuges and the impacts caused by low-level overflights along the Oregon coast. Additional text was added to highlight the Service’s plan to formalize the U.S. Coast Guard’s supporting role in reporting Federal wildlife violations and enforcing Refuge regulations. Selected Alternative After considering the comments we received, we selected Alternative 2 for the CCP. As planned in the CCP, we will develop law-enforcement assistance PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 agreements to increase resource protection along the coast; continue seabird surveys; develop GIS-based inventory and monitoring programs for target wildlife and plant species; actively work with partners to design and implement research on seabirds, pinnipeds, climate change, and other pertinent issues; expand the volunteer program to include interpretation at new locations; and develop agreements with school districts to implement environmental education programs at Oregon Islands and Three Arch Rocks Refuges. For Cape Meares Refuge, we will maintain closed areas; create a wildlife checklist; conduct an official boundary survey and post the boundary; and develop law enforcement assistance agreements, as planned in the CCP. We will also increase the volunteer interpreter presence and recruit more volunteers to lead guided walks. Environmental education and evening campground programs at adjacent Cape Lookout State Park will be developed and implemented. Public Availability of Documents In addition to the methods in you can view or obtain documents at the following locations: • Our Web site: https://www.fws.gov/ oregoncoast/CCP.htm. • Public libraries on the Oregon Coast will have a copy of the CCP in their Reference sections. ADDRESSES, Dated: November 12, 2009. David J. Wesley, Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland, Oregon. [FR Doc. E9–29316 Filed 12–8–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310–55–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Amherst College Museum of Natural History, Amherst College, Amherst, MA National Park Service, Interior. Notice. AGENCY: ACTION: Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Amherst College Museum of Natural History (formerly Pratt Museum of Natural History), Amherst College, Amherst, MA, that meet the definition of ‘‘unassociated funerary objects’’ under 25 U.S.C. 3001. E:\FR\FM\09DEN1.SGM 09DEN1 WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 9, 2009 / Notices 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 cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Between July 2 and July 27, 1909, cultural items were excavated from coastal shell middens on Sawyer’s Island, Lincoln County, ME, by Professor F.B. Loomis. A document in the Amherst College Archives, Pratt Museum Papers, titled ‘‘Field Record of Specimens from ‘Sawyer’s Island First Digging,’ a Paleo-Indian Site’’, gives the provenience for the materials he collected. This document shows that, among many other faunal and cultural objects, Loomis found one human jaw with five teeth. This jaw is no longer in the possession of the Amherst College Museum of Natural History; the date and circumstances under which these partial human remains left the museum collections are unknown. The 69 cultural items in this notice may have been associated with the now missing human remains. It is not known whether the cultural items come from the same burial or the same site as the partial human remains; only that all of the cultural items come from Sawyer’s Island middens and were excavated in the same month. Consultation with the Wabanaki Intertribal Repatriation Committee, a non-Federally recognized Indian group, which represents the Federally-recognized Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Tribe of Maine, indicates that they consider the objects could have been funerary, and therefore, are unassociated funerary objects as defined by 25 U.S.C. 3001. The 69 unassociated funerary objects are 31 bone awls, 11 bone tools, 9 horn tools, 6 stone tools, 6 stone arrow or spear heads, 3 celts, 1 stone amulet, 1 tooth pendant, and 1 bone harpoon point. Loomis interpreted the material collected on Sawyer’s Island to be Algonquin and the people of the middens to be related to the present-day Abnakis of Maine, (see Loomis & Young, American Journal of Science, v. 34, p. 41). Loomis concluded that the middens were built between 200 to 400 years prior to European contact, A.D. 1627, (see Loomis, American Journal of Science, v. 31, p. 227). According to Dr. John Stubbs, Jr., Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, the presence of pottery fragments found within the VerDate Nov<24>2008 15:02 Dec 08, 2009 Jkt 220001 Sawyer’s Island midden suggests the human remains and cultural items are most likely less than 2,700 years old. The Federally-recognized Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Tribe of Maine, represented by the Wabanaki Intertribal Repatriation Committee, a nonFederally recognized Indian group, are widely recognized as having a shared cultural relationship with the people of the Ceramic Period of Maine (2,000 B.P. to European contact). Officials of the Amherst College Museum of Natural History have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 69 cultural items 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native American individual. Officials of the Amherst College Museum of Natural History also 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 unassociated funerary objects and the Federally-recognized Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Tribe of Maine, which are represented by the Wabanaki Intertribal Repatriation Committee, a nonFederally recognized Indian group. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should contact Tekla A. Harms, Repatriation Coordinator & Professor of Geology, Department of Geology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002, telephone (413) 542–2711, before January 8, 2010. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Tribe of Maine may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward. The Amherst College Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Tribe of Maine that this notice has been published. PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 65139 Dated: November 9, 2009. David Tarler, Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program. [FR Doc. E9–29289 Filed 12–8–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4312–50–S DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver, CO National Park Service, Interior. Notice. AGENCY: ACTION: 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 cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. The five cultural items are Navajo jish, represented by three medicine bundles (AC.11423A-J; AC.11424A-R; AC.11425A-L), one stone prayer club (AC.4918), and one fetish and its wrapping (AC.194A-B). The first medicine bundle (AC.11423A-J) dates between about 1880 and 1920, and consists of one outer wrapping blanket (AC.11423A), two plain rattles (AC.11423B), three lightning rattles (AC.11423C), three eagle feather brushes (AC.11423D), eight medicine bows and arrows (AC.11423E), six small medicine bags (AC.11423F), and four horned hats (AC.11423G-J). The second medicine bundle (AC.11424A-R) dates to an unknown period, and consists of one outer wrapping blanket (AC.11424A), four bullroarers (AC.11424B), three lightning rattles (AC.11424C), two small plain rattles (AC.11424D), four sacks of medicine (AC.11424E), one gourd rattle (AC.11424F), four prayer sticks and hide (AC.11424G), two small medicine bags (AC.11424H), one blue stone horse fetish (AC.11424I), one bag of minerals and grease (AC.11424J), four fetish amulets (AC.11424K), three painted shell pots (AC.11424L), eight medicine stones (AC.11424M), one turtle shell (AC.11424N), four claw necklaces (AC.11424O), two pairs of claw wristlets (AC.11424P-Q), and one pottery painted pot (AC.11424R). The third medicine bundle (AC.11425A-L) dates between about 1880 and 1920, and consists of one outer wrapping blanket (AC.11425A); eight streamer racks made of wood, E:\FR\FM\09DEN1.SGM 09DEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 235 (Wednesday, December 9, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65138-65139]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-29289]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Amherst College 
Museum of Natural History, Amherst College, Amherst, MA

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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Amherst College 
Museum of Natural History (formerly Pratt Museum of Natural History), 
Amherst College, Amherst, MA, that meet the definition of 
``unassociated funerary objects'' under 25 U.S.C. 3001.

[[Page 65139]]

    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 cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    Between July 2 and July 27, 1909, cultural items were excavated 
from coastal shell middens on Sawyer's Island, Lincoln County, ME, by 
Professor F.B. Loomis. A document in the Amherst College Archives, 
Pratt Museum Papers, titled ``Field Record of Specimens from `Sawyer's 
Island First Digging,' a Paleo-Indian Site'', gives the provenience for 
the materials he collected. This document shows that, among many other 
faunal and cultural objects, Loomis found one human jaw with five 
teeth. This jaw is no longer in the possession of the Amherst College 
Museum of Natural History; the date and circumstances under which these 
partial human remains left the museum collections are unknown. The 69 
cultural items in this notice may have been associated with the now 
missing human remains. It is not known whether the cultural items come 
from the same burial or the same site as the partial human remains; 
only that all of the cultural items come from Sawyer's Island middens 
and were excavated in the same month. Consultation with the Wabanaki 
Intertribal Repatriation Committee, a non-Federally recognized Indian 
group, which represents the Federally-recognized Aroostook Band of 
Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, 
Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Tribe of Maine, indicates 
that they consider the objects could have been funerary, and therefore, 
are unassociated funerary objects as defined by 25 U.S.C. 3001. The 69 
unassociated funerary objects are 31 bone awls, 11 bone tools, 9 horn 
tools, 6 stone tools, 6 stone arrow or spear heads, 3 celts, 1 stone 
amulet, 1 tooth pendant, and 1 bone harpoon point.
    Loomis interpreted the material collected on Sawyer's Island to be 
Algonquin and the people of the middens to be related to the present-
day Abnakis of Maine, (see Loomis & Young, American Journal of Science, 
v. 34, p. 41). Loomis concluded that the middens were built between 200 
to 400 years prior to European contact, A.D. 1627, (see Loomis, 
American Journal of Science, v. 31, p. 227). According to Dr. John 
Stubbs, Jr., Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, the presence 
of pottery fragments found within the Sawyer's Island midden suggests 
the human remains and cultural items are most likely less than 2,700 
years old. The Federally-recognized Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of 
Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe 
of Maine, and Penobscot Tribe of Maine, represented by the Wabanaki 
Intertribal Repatriation Committee, a non-Federally recognized Indian 
group, are widely recognized as having a shared cultural relationship 
with the people of the Ceramic Period of Maine (2,000 B.P. to European 
contact).
    Officials of the Amherst College Museum of Natural History have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 69 cultural 
items 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of 
the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a 
Native American individual. Officials of the Amherst College Museum of 
Natural History also 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 unassociated funerary objects and the 
Federally-recognized Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton 
Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and 
Penobscot Tribe of Maine, which are represented by the Wabanaki 
Intertribal Repatriation Committee, a non-Federally recognized Indian 
group.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact Tekla A. Harms, Repatriation Coordinator & Professor of 
Geology, Department of Geology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002, 
telephone (413) 542-2711, before January 8, 2010. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians 
of Maine, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy 
Tribe of Maine, and Penobscot Tribe of Maine may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Amherst College Museum of Natural History is responsible for 
notifying the Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine, Houlton Band 
of Maliseet Indians of Maine, Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine, and 
Penobscot Tribe of Maine that this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 9, 2009.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-29289 Filed 12-8-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S

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