[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 11 (Thursday, January 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2882-2883]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00805]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-14598; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Tennessee Valley 
Authority, Knoxville, TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), in consultation with the 
appropriate Federally recognized Indian tribes has determined that the 
cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of 
any Federally recognized Indian tribe not identified in this notice 
that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request 
to the TVA. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of 
control of the cultural items to the Federally recognized Indian tribe 
stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Federally 
recognized Indian tribe not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to TVA at the address in this 
notice by February 18, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas O. Maher, TVA, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT11D, 
Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone (865) 632-7458, email 
[email protected].

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 TVA 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)

    From March 13 to November 14, 1939, 205 cultural items were removed 
from the Rudder site (1JA180), in Jackson County, AL. The Rudder site 
was excavated as part of TVA's Guntersville reservoir project by the 
Alabama Museum of Natural History (AMNH) at the University of Alabama, 
using labor and funds provided by the Works Progress Administration. 
Excavation of the land commenced after TVA had acquired this land for 
the Guntersville project. The excavation site was composed of a 
truncated trapezoidal mound w ith multiple construction periods and a 
smaller mound containing most of the burial units. This site was 
occupied during the Henry Island phase of the Mississippian culture 
(ca. A.D. 1200-1400). Details regarding this site may be found in An 
Archaeological Survey of Guntersville Basin on the Tennessee River in 
Northern Alabama by William S. Webb and Charles G. Wilder. The 
unassociated funerary

[[Page 2883]]

objects excavated from the Rudder site have always been in the physical 
custody of the AMNH at the University of Alabama. The 205 unassociated 
funerary objects are comprised of 1 ceramic bowl, 2 ceramic water 
bottles, 199 pottery sherds, 2 pieces of graphite, and 1 sandstone 
pallet.
    These unassociated funerary objects were recovered from six burial 
features. The human remains from these burial features were either not 
collected during excavation or have been misplaced in the last 74 
years. These burial features, however, were derived from Henry Island 
phase strata in the mounds at this site. These unassociated funerary 
objects are, therefore, from Mississippian culture burials.
    Although there is no scientific certainty that Native Americans of 
the Henry Island phase are directly related to modern Federally 
recognized tribes, Spanish and French explorers of the 16th and 17th 
centuries do indicate the presence chiefdom level tribal entities in 
the southeastern United States. The Coosa paramount chiefdom noted in 
historical chronicles is the most likely entity related to Henry Island 
phase sites in this part of the Guntersville Reservoir. Tribal groups 
or towns now part of The Muscogee (Creek) Nation claim descent from the 
Coosa chiefdom. The preponderance of the evidence indicates that in 
this part of the Guntersville Reservoir area, Henry Island phase sites 
are most likely culturally associated with groups now part of the 
Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Determinations Made by the Tennessee Valley Authority

    Officials of TVA have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 205 cultural items 
described in this notice 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 the specific burial sites of 
a Native American individuals.
     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 Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Federally recognized 
Indian tribe not identified in this notice that wish to claim these 
cultural items should submit a written request with information in 
support of the claim to Dr. Thomas O. Maher, TVA, 400 West Summit Hill 
Drive, WT11D, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone (865) 632-7458, email 
[email protected], by February 18, 2014. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
unassociated funerary objects to The Muscogee (Creek) Nation may 
proceed.
    TVA is responsible for notifying the University of Alabama and the 
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas 
(previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-
Quassarte Tribal Town; Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Kialegee Tribal Town; 
Poarch Band of Creeks (previously listed as the Poarch Band of Creek 
Indians of Alabama); Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously listed as 
the Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood 
& Tampa Reservations)); Shawnee Tribe; The Chickasaw Nation; The 
Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco 
Tribal Town; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 2, 2013.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-00805 Filed 1-15-14; 8:45 am]
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