[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 9, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51471-51472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25160]


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

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. 
Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Jean Lafitte 
National Historical Park and Preserve, New Orleans, LA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

    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 and associated 
funerary objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the 
Interior, National Park Service, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park 
and Preserve, New Orleans, LA.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2 (c). The 
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
National Park Service unit that has control or possession of these 
Native American human remains. The Assistant Director, Cultural 
Resources Stewardship and Partnerships is not responsible for the 
determinations within this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by National Park Service professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of 
Texas; Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; 
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Louisiana; 
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi; and Tunica-Biloxi 
Indian Tribe of Louisiana.
    In 1981, human remains representing one individual were collected 
from a small shell midden/burial mound site along the banks of Bayou 
des Familles, in the Barataria Preserve unit of Jean Lafitte National 
Historical Park and Preserve. The human remains were collected during 
an archeological site survey project conducted by the University of New 
Orleans. No known individual was identified. The 74 associated funerary 
objects are 21 fragments of a Baytown Plain ceramic vessel, 39 shells, 
and 13 animal bones. Based on the ceramics and the site layout, these 
human remains and associated funerary objects are likely to date to the 
Mississippian period (A.D. 1200-1600).
    Archeological evidence does not indicate any major population 
shifts in

[[Page 51472]]

the Barataria Basin area during the Mississippian period, which is 
corroborated by linguistic analyses. Historical records indicate that 
in 1543 Luis Moscoso de Alvardo, a member of the Hernando de Soto 
expedition, encountered the Indian tribes along the lower Mississippi 
River near the Barataria site that have been tentatively identified as 
the Chawasha, Washa, or Quinapisa. The Chawasha and Washa people were 
identified as living in the area as late as 1738. The declining 
population of both tribes was probably absorbed by the Chitimacha. 
Representatives of the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana indicate that they 
consider the Barataria Basin area as part of their homeland. The 
Quinapisa are not known to be associated with any present-day Federally 
recognized Indian tribe.
    Though the primary area of Biloxi settlement prior to 1700 was 
probably along the Mississippi Sound to the east, Pierre Le Moyne 
Iberville and other French explorers and colonists encountered the 
Biloxi along the lower Mississippi River and used them as guides in the 
late 17th century. By the early 1700s, Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. 
Denis had induced the Biloxi to relocate their settlements to 
Louisiana, between New Orleans and Lake Pontchartain.
    At the same time, the Tunica had settled as far south as the area 
of Baton Rouge, LA. In 1779, Spanish authorities granted land to the 
Tunica near Marksville, LA. Through intermarriage, the Tunica absorbed 
some of the Biloxi. The Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana was 
acknowledged by the Department of the Interior in 1980.
    The Chitimacha, Chawasha, Washa, and Tunica languages are in the 
Gulf language grouping. The Biloxi language is a member of the 
unrelated Siouan language family.
    Based on the above-mentioned information, the superintendent of 
Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve has determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above 
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American 
ancestry. The superintendent of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park 
and Preserve has determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), the 
74 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. The superintendent of Jean Lafitte 
National Historical Park and Preserve also has determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship of shared group 
identity that can be reasonably traced between these Native American 
human remains and the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana and Tunica-Biloxi 
Indian Tribe of Louisiana.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Alabama-Coushatta 
Tribes of Texas; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Chitimacha 
Tribe of Louisiana; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Coushatta Tribe of 
Louisiana; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Louisiana; Mississippi Band of 
Choctaw Indians, Mississippi; and Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of 
Louisiana. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes 
itself to be culturally affiliated with these human remains and 
associated funerary objects should contact Geraldine Smith, 
Superintendent, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, 365 
Canal Street, Suite 2400, New Orleans, LA 70130-1142, telephone (504) 
589-3882, before November 8, 2001. Repatriation of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects to the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana 
and Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana may begin after that date 
if no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: June 29, 2001.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources Stewardship and Partnerships.
[FR Doc. 01-25160 Filed 10-5-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S