[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 28 (Thursday, February 10, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6622-6623]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-3054]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
From Rockbridge County, VA in the Possession of the Virginia Department 
of Historic Resources, Richmond, VA

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), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains from Rockbridge 
County, VA in the possession of the Virginia Department of Historic 
Resources, Richmond, VA.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Virginia 
Department of Historic Resources professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Chickahominy, the Eastern Chickahominy, the 
Mattaponi, the Monacan Indian Nation, the Nansemond, the Pamunkey, the 
United Rappahannock, the Upper Mattaponi, all non-Federally recognized 
Indian groups which are formally recognized by the Commonwealth of 
Virginia.
    In 1901, human remains representing a minimum of 105 individuals 
were excavated from the Hayes Creek Mound, Rockbridge County, VA by 
Edward P. Valentine, an amateur archeologist with the Valentine Museum, 
Richmond, VA. In 1989, these human remains were donated to the Virginia 
Department of Historic Resources by the Valentine Museum. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Based on material culture and archeological evidence, the Hayes 
Creek Mound site has been identified as a Late Woodland (c. 900-1600 
A.D.) occupation. Based on the material culture and condition of the 
human remains, these individuals have been identified as Native 
American. Archeological and ethnohistoric research indicates the 
Monacan and Mannahoac were loosely confederated with each other and 
linked to the earlier mound-building peoples in the Virginia piedmont 
and eastern mountain regions generally known as the Lewis Creek Mound 
Culture. Consultation evidence presented by the present-day Monacan 
indicates a direct lineal connection with the Monacan and related 
tribes occupying Rockbridge County in the early 17th century. Based on 
continuities of mound construction and site arrangement, there appears 
to be a shared ideology and cultural continuity which underlayed and 
defined not only the Monacan east of the Blue Ridge, but also includes 
related groups on the immediate west side of the Blue Ridge.
    On October 29, 1999, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources 
requested a finding from the NAGPRA Review Committee concerning the 
Monacan Indian Nation's request for repatriation for these 105 
individuals listed as ``culturally unidentifiable'' on the Department's 
NAGPRA inventory. At its November 18-20, 1999 meeting, the NAGPRA 
Review Committee recommended that the Department proceed with 
repatriation of these Native American human remains to the Monacan 
Indian Nation following publication of this Notice of Inventory 
Completion in the Federal Register.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the Virginia 
Department of Historic Resources have determined that, pursuant to 43 
CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above represent the physical 
remains of a minimum of 105 individuals of Native American ancestry. 
Officials of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), no relationship of 
shared group identity can be reasonably traced between these Native 
American human remains and a Federally recognized Indian tribe. 
However, officials of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources 
have determined that a relationship of shared group identity can be 
reasonably traced between these Native American human remains and the 
Monacan Indian

[[Page 6623]]

Nation, a non-Federally recognized Indian group.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Chickahominy, the 
Eastern Chickahominy, the Mattaponi, the Monacan Indian Nation, the 
Nansemond, the Pamunkey, the United Rappahannock, the Upper Mattaponi. 
Representatives of any other Federally recognized Indian tribe or other 
valid claimant under NAGPRA that believes itself to be culturally 
affiliated with these human remains should contact M. Catherine 
Slusser, State Archaeologist, Department of Historic Resources, 2801 
Kensington Ave., Richmond, VA 23221; telephone: (804) 367-2323, before 
March 13, 2000. Repatriation of the human remains to the Monacan Indian 
Nation may begin after that date if no Federally recognized Indian 
tribes or other valid claimant under NAGPRA makes a claim.
    The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations 
within this notice.

    Dated: January 19, 2000.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 00-3054 Filed 2-9-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-F