[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 107 (Monday, June 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32981-32982]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-13453]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-10271; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Tennessee Valley 
Authority and the University of Tennessee McClung Museum, Knoxville, TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the University of 
Tennessee McClung Museum (McClung Museum), in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes, have determined that the cultural items meet 
the definition of unassociated funerary objects and repatriation to the 
Indian tribe identified below may occur if no additional claimants come 
forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the cultural items may contact the TVA and 
McClung Museum.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural items should contact the TVA and 
McClung Museum at the address below by July 5, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas O. Maher, TVA, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 
11D, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone (865) 632-7458.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 under the 
control of the TVA and in the custody of the McClung Museum 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 in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item(s)

    On June 21, 1937 unassociated funerary objects were removed by 
archeologist from the University of Tennessee's Division of 
Anthropology on Hiwassee Island, site 40MG031, from burial unit 
063MG001. No human remains were recovered from this burial unit. The 
unassociated funerary objects are 1 lot of approximately 150 glass 
trade beads, which were found in this badly disturbed burial unit. The 
TVA and the McClung Museum do not have control or possession of any 
human remains from this burial unit. Since excavation, the unassociated 
funerary objects have been curated at the McClung Museum at the 
University of Tennessee.
    Hiwassee Island is located seven miles south of the town of Dayton, 
TN, and is approximately 29 miles upstream of the TVA's Chickamauga 
Dam. The archeologists were working under a ``Permit for Archeological 
Exploration'' between the landowner and the TVA, and the excavations 
were undertaken in connection with the TVA's construction of 
Chickamauga Dam and Reservoir. Details regarding the excavations and 
analysis can be found in Hiwassee Island: An Archaeological Account of 
Four Tennessee Indian Peoples, by Thomas M.N. Lewis and Madeline 
Kneberg, University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN.

Determinations Made by the TVA and McClung Museum

    Officials of the TVA and McClung Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 1 lot of 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.
     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 above and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of 
Oklahoma.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should 
contact Dr. Thomas O. Maher, TVA, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11D, 
Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone (865-632-7458), before July 5, 
2012. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to the Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation of Oklahoma may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The TVA is responsible for notifying the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of 
Oklahoma that this notice has been published.


[[Page 32982]]


    Dated: May 30, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-13453 Filed 6-1-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P