[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 61 (Monday, March 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18061-18062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07150]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-15257; 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 item listed in this notice meets the definition of an 
unassociated funerary object. Lineal descendants or representatives of 
any Federally recognized Indian tribe not identified in this notice 
that wish to claim this cultural item should submit a written request 
to the TVA. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of 
control of the cultural item 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 April 30, 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.

[[Page 18062]]

3005, of the intent to repatriate a cultural item under the control of 
TVA that meets 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

    From April 27, 1938, to November 10, 1939, 1 cultural item was 
removed from the Cox site (1JA176), in Jackson County, AL. The Cox 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 conical 
mound believed to have originally been a truncated pyramid, with 
multiple stratigraphic zones and also a village site containing most of 
the burial units. This site was occupied during the Crow Creek phase 
(ca. A.D. 1400-1600). 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 object excavated from the Cox site is 1 shell-
tempered ceramic pot, and it has always been in the physical custody of 
the AMNH at the University of Alabama.
    This unassociated funerary object was recovered from one burial 
feature. The human remains from this burial feature were either not 
collected during excavation or have been misplaced in the last 74 
years. This ceramic pot is shell-tempered and the exterior has multiple 
nodes. This unassociated funerary object is similar to others in use at 
the end of the Mississippian period.
    Although there is no scientific certainty that Native Americans of 
the Crow Creek phase are directly related to modern Federally 
recognized tribes, Spanish explorers of the 16th centuries do indicate 
the presence of chiefdom level tribal entities in the southeastern 
United States. The Coosa paramount chiefdom noted in historical 
chronicles is the most likely entity related to Crow Creek 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, Crow Creek 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 1 cultural item 
described in this notice is 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 is 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 object 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 April 30, 2014. After that date, if no additional 
claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the unassociated 
funerary object 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: March 11, 2014.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-07150 Filed 3-28-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P