[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 185 (Wednesday, September 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49992-49993]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-25308]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains
and Associated Funerary Objects from Lake Texoma, OK in the Possession
of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, Tulsa, OK
AGENCY: National Park Service.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C.
3003 (d), of the completion of an inventory of human remains and
associated funerary objects from Lake Texoma, OK in the possession of
the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, Tulsa, OK.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by U.S. Army
Corps- Tulsa District professional staff in consultation with
representatives of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.
In 1971, human remains representing two individuals were exposed
during a work project at site 34Jn30, Lake Texoma, Johnson County, OK
and removed by University of Oklahoma staff. No known individuals were
[[Page 49993]]
identified. The 114 associated funerary objects included an iron
padlock, a silver pendant, ceramics, glass seed beads, dark green glass
sherds, animal bones, metal fragments, buttons, knife blades, a clay
pipe, a screw, mussel shell, and stone flakes, however, these objects
have not been located within the collections of the original curating
institution, the University of Oklahoma.
Morphological evidence based on shoveled incisors indicates these
individuals are Native American. The recorded associated funerary
objects indicate these burial date to between c.1850--1890 A.D. During
this time, site 34JN30 was located within the exclusive territory of
the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, and was allotted between 1901 and
1906 to Mr. Bluford J. Greer and Ms. Sophia R. Arpealer, two Chickasaw
citizens.
During 1986-1987, human remains representing a minimum of four
individuals were exposed by shoreline erosion at site 34MA15, Lake
Texoma, Marshall County, OK and recovered by Army Corps-Tulsa District
personnel. No known individuals were identified. The eleven associated
funerary objects include three triangular-wire looped thumbscrews, one
heart-shaped looped wire, one ribbon and bow decorative metal coffin
hardware, one pair of decorative metal leaves coffin hardware, one
decorative metal bird or flower hardware, and one metal coffin handle
fragment with two screws.
Based on the coffin hardware, these burials are estimated to date
between the late 1800s and the early 1900s. Morphological evidence,
including curved femurs, indicates that three of these individuals are
Native American. The fourth individual, a young adult woman found
commingled with the remains of one of the Native American men, shows
Caucasian facial morphology. Site 34Ma15 is located within an allotment
held in the early 1900s by Mr. John Edward Mayo, Mr. William Phillip
Mayo, and Mr. James D. Mayo, all of whom were Chickasaw citizens.
Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District have determined that, pursuant
to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the
physical remains of five individuals of Native American ancestry.
Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District have also
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the eleven objects
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, officials of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Tulsa District 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 Native American human remains and
associated funerary objects and the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.
This notice has been sent to officials of the Chickasaw Nation of
Oklahoma. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that 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 October 24, 1997. Repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma may
begin after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
Dated: September 16, 1997.
C. Timothy McKeown,
Acting Departmental Consulting Archeologist, Archeology and Ethnography
Program.
[FR Doc. 97-25308 Filed 9-23-97; 8:45 am]
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