[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 47 (Thursday, March 12, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10754-10755]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-5330]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: County of 
Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches, TX

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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the County of 
Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches, TX, that meet the definition of 
``unassociated funerary objects'' under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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

[[Page 10755]]

in this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, institution, 
or Federal agency that has control of the cultural items. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    In 2004, an incised bowl and two chert drills were removed from a 
burial pit at archeological site 41NA231, also known as the Tallow 
Grove site, in the Lake Naconiche project area, Nacogdoches County, TX. 
The removal was associated with archeological data recovery in an area 
to be impacted by construction and/or operation of Lake Naconiche. No 
preserved human remains were in the burial pit.
    The Tallow Grove site, 41NA231, is a Middle Caddo Period habitation 
on a late Holocene terrace near Naconiche Creek. The temporal context 
is supported by recovered temporally diagnostic artifacts, radiocarbon 
analyses, and oxidizable carbon ratio dates. The main occupation of the 
site took place between the early part of the 13th century and 
approximately A.D. 1480, and was preceded by an earlier Woodland Period 
occupation that dates from 110 B.C. to A.D. 435. None of the 
radiocarbon-dated features are earlier than the Middle Caddo Period. 
The small cemetery (approximately 8 x 6 meters), situated near the 
remnants of several structures, and an extensive midden deposit and 
outdoor work area, contained eight burials. Five burials had preserved 
human remains (two of these burials included associated funerary 
objects), two burial pits preserved neither human remains nor 
associated funerary objects, and one burial pit preserved no human 
remains, but did contain the unassociated funerary objects described 
above. The mortuary practices and types of associated and unassociated 
funerary objects are consistent with the traditions of the Caddo Indian 
peoples. Preserved funerary offerings included pottery vessels placed 
near the shoulders or head. Geographic placement of the site and 
archeological evidence provide a reasonable basis for the officials of 
the County of Nacogdoches to believe that the unassociated funerary 
objects are culturally affiliated with the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.
    Officials of the County of Nacogdoches have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the three cultural items described 
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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual. Officials of the County of Nacogdoches also 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 unassociated funerary objects and the Caddo Nation of 
Oklahoma.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact George Campbell, County of Nacogdoches, 101 West Main Street, 
Nacogdoches, TX 75961, telephone (936) 569-6772, before April 13, 2009. 
Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to the Caddo Nation 
of Oklahoma may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The County of Nacogdoches is responsible for notifying the Caddo 
Nation of Oklahoma that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 20, 2009
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-5330 Filed 3-11-09; 8:45 am]
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