[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 168 (Friday, August 29, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45874-45875]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-23107]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, Tulsa, OK

AGENCY: National Park Service

ACTION: Notice

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, 25 U.S.C. 
3003(d), of the completion of an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects in the possession of the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Tulsa District, Tulsa, OK.
    A detailed inventory and assessment of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects was done by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers in consultation with representatives of the Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation of Oklahoma, the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Thlopthlocco 
Tribal Town, Kialigee Tribal Town, and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.
    Between 1988 and July, 1990, human remains representing a minimum 
of twelve individuals were exposed by shoreline erosion at site 
34MI121, Eufaula Lake, McIntosh County, OK and removed by U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District personnel. No known individuals were 
identified. The 361 associated funerary objects include a shell 
fragment, corroded nails, blue glass faceted cut beads; green, white, 
and black glass beads; old glass, a coarse piece of wood, a metal 
button, and a corroded piece of metal.
    Based on the associated funerary objects, these burials are 
estimated to date from immediately after Removal to before the Civil 
War (1832-1861). These individuals have been determined to be Native 
American based on the age and types of associated funerary objects. 
Site 34MI121 is located within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) 
and Seminole Nations who jointly occupied this area between 1833 and 
1855.
    In 1987, human remains representing one individual were exposed by 
shoreline erosion at site 34MI139, Eufaula Lake, McIntosh County, OK 
and removed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District personnel. 
No known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects were 
present.
    Morphological evidence, including post-bregmatic depression, oval 
external auditory meatus, frontal bossing, and a high-rounded skull, 
shows this individual exhibits Native American, African American, and 
European American features. Oral history information received by the 
Corps in the early 1960s indicates that a post-Civil War Freedman Creek 
cemetery is located at site 34MI139. Muscogee (Creek) Nation records 
show that site 34MI139 was originally allotted to Mr. Alexander Brown 
(Enrollment no. 2570) in 1902. Mr. Brown resided in the Arkansas 
Colored Tribal Town, one of three Muscogee (Creek) Freedmen Tribal 
Towns. The Muscogee (Creek) Freedmen Roll is an internal record of 
Muscogee citizens who were slaves or decendents of slaves held by 
Muscogee prior to and during the Civil War. Following the Civil War, 
the Freedmen

[[Page 45875]]

became full Muscogee (Creek) citizens. (Prior to the Civil War, any 
person whose mother was Muscogee and whose father was African or of 
African descent was a full Muscogee citizen.) This historical context 
establishes the cultural affiliation of the enrollees of the Muscogee 
Freedmen Roll to the present-day Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
    In 1987, human remains representing one individual were exposed by 
shoreline erosion at site 34MI144, Eufuala Lake, McIntosh County, OK 
and removed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District personnel. 
No known individual was identified. The 53 associated funerary objects 
include blue shell, edged plates, transfer-printed ceramics, 
undecorated whiteware, ironstone ceramics, mold-decorated whiteware, 
porcelain, stoneware ceramics, old glass fragments, rusted machine-cut 
nails, a wire nail, garden-type iron hoe, iron buckles, metal 
fragments, a quartzite hammer stone, metal and ceramic buttons, a boar 
tusk, and a piece of turtle carapace.
    This individual has been determined to be Native American based on 
the associated funerary objects. The burial has been dated to between 
1866 and 1890, also based on the associated funerary objects. These 
dates fall within the time of exclusive Muscogee (Creek) and Seminole 
Nations' occupation of this area, 1832 to 1890.
    Between 1988 and June 1990, human remains representing three 
individuals were exposed by shoreline erosion at site 34MI313, Eufuala 
Lake, McIntosh County, OK and removed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Tulsa District personnel. No known individual was identified. The 241 
associated funerary objects include a stoneware glazed elbow pipe, a 
brass belt buckle, a metal planter's hoe, glass beads and bead 
fragments, a small piece of lead shot, old green glass fragments, a 
metal finger ring, a piece of red cotton cloth, stone flakes, animal 
bone fragments, silver ear bobs with loops and pendent, a silver finger 
ring, pottery sherds, and one small piece of coal.
    Based on the types of associated funerary objects, these 
individuals have been determined to be Native American. The associated 
funerary objects place the dates of the burials to the post-1832--pre-
1861 period. During this time period, site 34MI313 and the surrounding 
area were exclusively used and occupied by the Muscogee (Creek) and 
Seminole Nations.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District have determined that, pursuant 
to 43 CFR 10 (d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the 
physical remains of at least seventeen individuals of Native American 
ancestry. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District officials 
has also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 655 
cultural items listed 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, the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Tulsa District officials have determined that, pursuant to 
25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group identity 
which can be reasonably traced between these human remains and 
associated funerary objects and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of 
Oklahoma, the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, 
Kialigee Tribal Town, and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.
    This notice has been sent to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of 
Oklahoma, the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, 
Kialigee Tribal Town, and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribe which believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Mr. Robert W. Jobson, NAGPRA Coordinator, 
Planning Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa district, P.O. 
Box 61, Tulsa, OK 74121-0061, telephone (918) 669-7193 before September 
29, 1997. Repatriation of these human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, the Alabama-
Quassarte Tribal Town, Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Kialigee Tribal Town, 
and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma may begin after this date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
Dated: August 25, 1997.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 97-23107 Filed 8-28-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F