[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 189 (Friday, September 28, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59646-59647]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-23922]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-11214; 2200-1100-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Defense, Army 
Garrison, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, AL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Garrison, Redstone Arsenal, has completed an 
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined 
that there is no cultural affiliation between the remains and any 
present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any Indian tribe that 
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains may 
contact the Redstone Arsenal. Disposition of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes stated below may occur 
if no additional requestors come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Redstone 
Arsenal at the address below by October 29, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Ben Hoksbergen, 4488 Martin Road, Room A-328, U.S. Army 
Garrison, Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, AL 35898, telephone (256) 955-
6971.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 23 
U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the U.S. Army 
Garrison, Redstone Arsenal (Redstone Arsenal). The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from three sites in Madison 
County, AL.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). The determinations in this notice are 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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by Redstone Arsenal and the U. S. Army Engineer 
District, St. Louis, Mandatory Center of Expertise for Curation and 
Management of Archaeological Collections in consultation with 
representatives of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; 
Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, 
Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma; 
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band 
of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Kialegee Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Mississippi Band of Choctaw 
Indians, Mississippi; Muskogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma; Poarch Band of 
Creek Indians of Alabama; Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe, 
Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Tunica-Biloxi Indian 
Tribe of Louisiana; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians 
in Oklahoma.

History and Description of the Remains

    In March 1978, human remains representing, at minimum, nine 
individuals were discovered eroding out of a clay floor of a cave at 
site 1MA165, on Redstone Arsenal, in Madison County, AL. The University 
of Alabama, Office of Archaeological Research conducted a surface 
collection of the exposed bone found in the cave. This investigation 
was undertaken as part of a Phase I cultural reconnaissance project of 
selected areas of Redstone Arsenal. The partial and fragmentary 
skeletal remains are those of adult individuals, likely both male and 
female, recovered during the University of Alabama, Office of 
Archaeological Research's survey. No known individuals were identified. 
No associated funerary objects are present.
    According to Lawrence S. Alexander's technical report Phase I 
Cultural Reconnaissance of Selected Areas of Redstone Arsenal, Madison 
County, Alabama (1979), which is on file at Redstone Arsenal, these 
human remains were exposed by the action of flowing water from a drip 
pool which cut a drainage channel through the talus slope at the foot 
of the cave. Alexander believed that this site represents a Copena 
ossuary cave dating to A.D. 100-500. The human remains were deposited 
into a 45-foot shaft where they were subsequently redeposited by water 
action onto the talus slope at the foot of the cave.
    In January of 1980, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed by New World Research, Inc. during a 
reconnaissance level cultural resource survey to conduct testing and 
evaluation of a proposed alternate corridor for a DDT contamination 
study on Redstone Arsenal, in Madison County, AL. During testing at the 
extensive village site 1MA210, 18 fragmentary pieces of human bone 
representing one adult of indeterminate sex were recovered from a 
shovel test. No known individuals were identified. The 37 associated 
funerary objects are 28 flakes, 1 projectile point, 7 stone debris 
fragments, and 1 gastropod shell.
    During the spring of 1987, human remains representing, at minimum, 
one individual were removed by OMS, Inc. during an archeological 
investigation on Redstone Arsenal, at the village site 1MA126, in 
Madison County, AL. The partial and fragmentary remains of one adult 
male were removed from a burial pit. About half of the burial had been 
disturbed by earlier mechanical excavation. The remainder was found in 
the profile of the north side of the trench. The individual had been 
interred in a sitting position within a cylindrical pit lined with 
pieces of limestone. No known individuals were identified. The 16 
associated funerary objects are 6 chert flakes; 1 chert blank; 2 
preforms; 1 rodent tooth; 1 beaver tooth; 1 deer antler tine; 1 drilled 
deer antler piece; 2 Wade points; and 1 hammerstone. The presence of 
diagnostic Wade Projectile points suggests a date for the burial 
sometime during the Late Archaic (4000-1000 BP) to Gulf Formational 
(2500-100 BP) periods.
    At the time of the excavation and removal of these human remains 
and associated funerary objects, the land from which the remains and 
objects were removed was not the tribal land of any Indian tribe. In 
2010 and 2011, the Redstone Arsenal consulted with all the Indian 
tribes who are recognized as aboriginal to the area from which these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed. These tribes are the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina, and the United Keetoowah 
Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. None of these tribes agreed to 
accept control of the human remains and associated funerary objects. In 
June of 2012, the Redstone Arsenal agreed to transfer control of the 
human remains and

[[Page 59647]]

associated funerary objects to the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Army Garrison, Redstone Arsenal

    Officials of the U.S. Army Garrison, Redstone Arsenal, have 
determined that:
     Based on non-destructive physical analysis of the human 
remains and the cultural context of the sites, the human remains were 
determined to be Native American.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
     According to the final judgment of the Indian Claims 
Commission, the human remains were removed from the aboriginal land of 
the Cherokee Nation, which includes the present-day tribes of the 
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of 
North Carolina, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
above represent the physical remains of 11 individuals of Native 
American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 53 objects 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.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(2)(i), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects is to the Chickasaw 
Nation of Oklahoma.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects or any other Indian tribe that believes it satisfies the 
criteria in 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1) should contact Mr. Ben Hoksbergen, 4488 
Martin Road, Room A-328, U.S. Army Garrison, Redstone Arsenal, 
Huntsville, AL 35898, telephone (256) 955-6971, before October 29, 
2012. Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
to the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants or requestors come forward.
    Redstone Arsenal is responsible for notifying the Absentee Shawnee 
Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas; 
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma; 
Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Coushatta Tribe 
of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina; 
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Kialegee Tribal Town, Oklahoma; 
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi; Muskogee (Creek) 
Nation, Oklahoma; Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama; Seminole 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, 
Oklahoma; Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana; and the United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: September 5, 2012.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-23922 Filed 9-27-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P