[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 129 (Thursday, July 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38417-38418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10514]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Defense, Army 
Corps of Engineers-Memphis District, Memphis, TN; U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service-Southeast Region, Savannah, GA; 
and Arkansas Archeological Survey, University of Arkansas, 
Fayetteville, AR

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. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the control of the U.S. Department of Defense, Army Corps of 
Engineers-Memphis District, Memphis, TN, and U.S. Department of the 
Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service-Southeast Region, Savannah, GA; and 
in the possession of the Arkansas Archeological Survey, University of 
Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Mississippi County, AR.
    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 Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Arkansas 
Archeological Survey, University of Arkansas, and U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers-Memphis District professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; 
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma; 
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, 
Mississippi; Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma; Osage Tribe, Oklahoma; 
Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma; 
and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.
    Between 1969 and 1976, human remains representing a minimum of 35 
individuals were removed from the Zebree site (3MS20), Mississippi 
County, AR, during a planned excavation by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers-Memphis District. The human remains were transferred to and 
continue to be curated at the University of Arkansas Collections 
Facility in Fayetteville, AR. No known individuals were identified. The 
two associated funerary objects are a Neeley's Ferry plain bottle and a 
fish effigy bowl. An unspecified number of shell beads associated with 
one individual were documented as ``lost in the field.''
    The Zebree site, originally discovered in 1967, is listed on the 
National Register of Historic Places as the Zebree Homestead and is 
located in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Big Lake National 
Wildlife Refuge. The site was a major village site in Arkansas. The Big 
Lake phase component at Zebree was superimposed directly upon a Dunklin 
phase occupation. Archeological evidence indicates that the human 
remains and associated funerary objects date to the Early (circa A.D. 
900-1100) and Middle Mississippian (circa A.D. 1100-1300). Oral history 
evidence presented by representatives of the Quapaw Tribe of Indians, 
Oklahoma indicates that the region including Mississippi County has 
long been included in the traditional and hunting territory of the 
Quapaw. Historical documents, specifically French colonial documents 
and maps circa A.D. 1673-1720, indicate that only the Quapaw had 
villages in eastern Arkansas and the area of northeastern Arkansas was 
used as hunting territory.
    Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Memphis District and 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Southeast Region have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of a minimum of 35 individuals of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-
Memphis District and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Southeast Region 
also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the two 
objects described above are reasonably believed to have been placed 
with or near the 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-Memphis District and U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service-Southeast Region 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 Native American human remains and 
associated funerary objects and the Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should

[[Page 38418]]

contact Richard S. Kanaski, Regional Historic Preservation Office, U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service-Southeast Region, Savannah Coastal Refuges, 
1000 Business Center Drive, Suite 10, Savannah, GA 31405, telephone 
(912) 652-4415, ext. 113, before August 7, 2006. Repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Quapaw Tribe of 
Indians, Oklahoma, may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Southeast Region is responsible 
for notifying the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; 
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma; 
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, 
Mississippi; Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma; Osage Tribe, Oklahoma; 
Quapaw Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma; 
and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: June 7, 2006.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-10514 Filed 7-5-06; 8:45 am]
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