[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35779-35780]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14742]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-15827; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Oregon State University, 
Department of Anthropology, Corvallis, OR

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Oregon State University Department of Anthropology has 
completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 
Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request to the Oregon State University Department of 
Anthropology. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, 
or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to the 
Oregon State University Department of Anthropology at the address in 
this notice by July 24, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Dave Brauner, Oregon State University, Department of 
Anthropology, 238 Waldo Hall, Corvallis, OR 97333, telephone (541) 737-
3850.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains under 
the control of the Oregon State University Department of Anthropology, 
Corvallis, OR. The human remains were removed from Casey, Christian, 
and Scott Counties, KY.
    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 human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Oregon 
State University Department of Anthropology professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Shawnee Tribe and United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. The Miami Tribe of 
Oklahoma has been contacted, but has deferred to the tribes in this 
notice.

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1930 and 1971, human remains representing, at minimum, five 
individuals were removed from the Dulins Creek site (Ch 19), in 
Christian County, KY, by Georg Karl Neumann, a physical anthropologist 
working out of Indiana University, Bloomington. In 1976, the Oregon 
State University's Department of Anthropology acquired the Neumann 
Collection from Georg Neumann's son. These individuals are labeled with 
the identification of ``Ch.'' No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    Dr. Neumann and a doctoral student, Louise Robbins, collected human 
remains from several archeological sites during their research projects 
with a focus on archeological mound sites, skeletal characteristics of 
Native American races, and general human physical variation and 
skeletal morphology. The culmination of this research is published as 
``Archaeology and Race in the American Indian,'' in the 1952 Yearbook 
of Physical Anthropology, Vol. 8, and in Louise Robbins' doctoral 
dissertation, ``The Identification of the Prehistoric Shawnee Indians: 
The Description of the Populations of the Fort Ancient Aspect'' 
(Indiana University, 1968). Collection records accompanying the human 
remains document Dr. Neumann's work with survey archeologists in 
Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The records state that Dr. Neumann was 
collecting human remains in Christian County, western Kentucky, and in 
the Cumberland River Basin. Neumann's site documents include records 
for burial sites along Dulins Creek (Ch 19) in Kentucky.
    Between 1930 and 1971, human remains representing, at minimum, 
eight individuals were removed from an unknown site in Casey County, 
KY, by Dr. Neumann. In 1976, the Oregon State University Department of 
Anthropology

[[Page 35780]]

acquired the Neumann Collection from Georg Neumann's son. These 
individuals are labeled with the identification of ``CS.'' 
Representatives of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey confirm that 
``CS'' is the Smithsonian county abbreviation for Casey County. No 
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    The human remains are reasonably believed to be from the above 
described research projects of Dr. Neumann and Louise Robbins. In 
addition to the published research described above, the records also 
include notes for a talk on Native American archeological periods in 
Kentucky. The notes list specific culture periods found in ``Western 
Kentucky, headwaters of the Green River and Eastern Mountains area'' 
(Robbins 1971), one of which is the Fort Ancient culture period. The 
headwaters of the Green River flow through Casey County, KY.
    Between 1930 and 1971, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from an unknown site in Scott County, KY, by 
Dr. Neumann. In 1976, the Oregon State University Department of 
Anthropology acquired the Neumann Collection from Georg Neumann's son. 
These individuals are labeled with the identification of ``SC.'' 
Neumann consistently labeled human remains with Smithsonian trinomial 
abbreviations; representatives of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey 
confirm that Scott County is abbreviated as ``SC.'' No known individual 
was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Representatives of the Kentucky Archaeological Survey confirm that 
mound sites are common along rivers in Kentucky, including Fort Ancient 
culture period mounds that Neumann was known to excavate. Louise 
Robbins' doctoral dissertation (Robbins 1968) includes a map of the 
distribution of the Madisonville Focus of the Fort Ancient 
archeological cultural assemblage, and this area includes Scott County, 
KY. Robbins' dissertation further explains the relationship between 
Neumann and the Fort Ancient assemblage excavations, placing Neumann at 
the excavations with the primary responsibility for the human remains 
data.
    It is reasonably believed the individuals in this notice are all 
from the Fort Ancient culture period (circa 1100 to 1650 A.D.). The 
three Federally recognized Shawnee tribes--the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe 
of Indians of Oklahoma, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the 
Shawnee Tribe--were originally united as one Shawnee Nation, consisting 
of nomadic groups that traveled the area east of the Mississippi, 
including the area now known as Kentucky, before and during the initial 
period of contact. The Treaty of Holston in 1791 between the Cherokee 
Nation and the United States Government states that the territory they 
would restrict themselves to was bordered by the top of Cumberland 
Mountain ``thence in a direct line to the Cumberland river . . . thence 
down the Cumberland river to a point from which a south west line will 
strike the ridge which divides waters of Cumberland from those of Duck 
river . . .''; thus indicating the Cherokee presence in the areas of 
Kentucky from which Neumann excavated these Fort Ancient individuals. 
Today, the Cherokee are represented by the Cherokee Nation; Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians; and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians 
in Oklahoma

Determinations Made By the Oregon State University Department of 
Anthropology

    Officials of the Oregon State University, Department of 
Anthropology have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 14 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern 
Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe; and United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Dr. Dave 
Brauner, Oregon State University, Department of Anthropology, 238 Waldo 
Hall, Corvallis, OR 97333, telephone (541) 737-3850, by July 24, 2014. 
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains to the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe 
of Indians of Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe; and United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma may proceed.
    The Oregon State University Department of Anthropology is 
responsible for notifying the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern 
Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe; and 
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma that this notice 
has been published.

    Dated: May 15, 2014.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-14742 Filed 6-23-14; 8:45 am]
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