[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 24, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35791-35792]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14758]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-15911; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: County of Titus, 
Mount Pleasant, TX

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Titus County, Mount Pleasant, TX, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has 
determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects or objects of cultural 
patrimony. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request to Titus 
County. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of 
the cultural items 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 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to Titus County at the address in 
this notice by July 24, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Terry Plucker, Titus County, P.O. Box 9389, The Woodlands, 
TX 77387, telephone (936) 441-9121.

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 Titus County, Mount Pleasant, TX, that meet the definition 
of unassociated funerary objects or objects of cultural patrimony 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 Items

    Between January and June 2010, 15 cultural items were removed from 
the William Ford (41TT852), James Richey (41TT853), and the George 
Richey (41TT851) sites, as part of the environmental clearance for the 
US 271 Relief Route project, which passes to the west of Mount 
Pleasant, in Titus County, TX. A total of 11 sites were identified for 
further testing to assess their eligibility for listing in the National 
Register of Historic Places and designation as State Archeological 
Landmarks, and the three sites listed above were identified for data 
recovery excavations. These three sites are Caddo farmsteads dating 
from the Middle Caddo to Late Caddo periods.
    Five cultural items were removed from the William Ford site 
(41TT852) from one burial (Feature 164) and one probable burial 
(Feature 542A). The cultural items from Feature 164 are one Ripley 
Engraved carinated bowl, one medium-sized untyped jar, one large 
undecorated jar in two sections, and one clump of dark reddish brown 
clay. The bowl was situated on the east side of the pit, and the two 
jars and clay clump were on the west side with the smaller jar sitting 
on top of the larger one. The cultural item from Feature 542A is one 
small undecorated, untyped jar. The objects were removed a specific 
burial site of a Native American individual and meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    Eight cultural items were removed from the James Richey site 
(41TT853) from three separate burials (Feature 2, Feature 18, and 
Feature 25). The cultural items from Feature 2 are one Maydelle Incised 
jar, one small simple effigy bowl, and one grooved stone tool. The 
effigy bowl was placed along the north wall on the east side; the 
Maydelle jar was about 60 cm from the north end on the west side; and 
the grooved stone was on the east side about 50 cm from the north end. 
The cultural items from Feature 18 are two small bowls and one small 
jar. The cultural items from Feature 25 are one undecorated small jar 
and one small to medium-sized simple bowl. The objects were removed a 
specific burial site of a Native American individual and meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    Two cultural items were removed from the George Richey site 
(41TT851). The cultural items are two effigy bowl sherds. No evidence 
of burials were found at this site. The Caddo Nation of Oklahoma has 
identified these two objects as have ongoing historical, traditional, 
or cultural importance central to the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma under 25 
U.S.C. 3001.
    The Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) contracted for the 
initial archeological survey work and conducted consultation on the 
entire project with the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. On January 29, 2013, 
TXDOT informed the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma the Titus County would be 
handling NAGPRA consultation. The Caddo Nation of Oklahoma subsequently 
submitted a claim for these items under NAGPRA.

Determinations Made By Titus County

    Officials of Titus County have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), 13 of the cultural items 
described above are

[[Page 35792]]

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(3)(D), 2 of the cultural items 
described above have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural 
importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, 
rather than property owned by an individual.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
cultural items and the Caddo Nation of 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 claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Terry Plucker, Titus County, P.O. Box 9389, 
The Woodlands, TX 77387, telephone (936) 441-9121, by July 24, 2014. 
After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer 
of control of the unassociated funerary objects or objects of cultural 
patrimony to the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma may proceed.
    Titus County is responsible for notifying the Caddo Nation of 
Oklahoma that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 29, 2014.
David Tarler,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2014-14758 Filed 6-23-14; 8:45 am]
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