[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 168 (Monday, August 31, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52496-52497]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21490]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-18955; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Dallas Water Utilities, Dallas, 
Texas

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Dallas Water Utilities 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 Dallas Water Utilities. 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

[[Page 52497]]

human remains should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the Dallas Water Utilities at the address in 
this notice by September 30, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Terry Hodgins, 405 Long Creek Road, Sunnyvale, TX 75182, 
telephone (214) 670-8658, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby 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 Dallas Water Utilities. The human remains were 
removed from Lake Ray Hubbard, Rockwall County, TX.
    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 AR 
Consultants, Inc. and Dallas Water Utilities professional staff in 
initial consultation with representatives of the Caddo Nation of 
Oklahoma and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & 
Tawakoni).

History and Description of the Remains

    In November 2011 and in the fall of 2013, human remains 
representing, at minimum, six individuals were removed from site 41RW2 
in Rockwall County, TX, near the Shores Golf Course. The human remains 
were found along the lakebed exposed by low reservoir water levels. The 
lake is property of the City of Dallas, but the area in which the 
remains were found is in Rockwall County. Human remains on the surface 
of the lakebed were collected and released to the Dallas County Medical 
Examiner's Office for identification. Once the remains were determined 
to be of no forensic significance, Dallas Water Utilities was notified 
of their presence. Dallas Water Utilities contacted Dr. Catrina Banks 
Whitley of AR Consultants, Inc. to conduct skeletal analysis and to 
assist in determining potential disposition options. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Site 41RW2, the Upper Rockwall Site, is a Wiley Focus Site dating 
from A.D. 1 to 1500. The site was excavated by the Dallas Archeological 
Society in 1963, and the subsequent report describes the site as being 
very extensive, 400 yards by 150 yards, and is in the west end of a 
terrace adjacent to the East Fork of the Trinity River. During those 
excavations, the Dallas Archeological Society encountered nine burials, 
shell pits, shell cooking pits, and numerous artifacts including 
pottery, lithic debris, points, beads, awls, bone needles, and bone 
pins. The burials included cremated and primary interments, some with 
funerary objects such as conch shell beads. The site was excavated 
again in 1966 by the Texas Archeological Salvage Project. Approximately 
nine trenches were placed across the site and excavation by hand 
occurred. Two primary interments were excavated that included a broken 
sherd, worked mussel shell, gar scales, and fish vertebrae in one grave 
and small shell beads and large conch shell beads, near the neck of the 
other burial. Additional non-funerary items included bifaces, knives, 
pottery, and beads among others.
    Given the location and age of the site, a relationship of shared 
group identity can be reasonably traced between the human remains and 
the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes 
(Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakoni).

Determinations Made by the Dallas Water Utilities

    Officials of the Dallas Water Utilities and AR Consultants, Inc. 
have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of a minimum number of 
six 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 Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and Wichita and 
Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakoni).

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 Terry 
Hodgins, 405 Long Creek Road, Sunnyvale, TX, 75182, telephone (214) 
670-8658, email [email protected], by September 30, 
2015. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains to the Caddo Nation of 
Oklahoma or the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & 
Tawakoni) may proceed.
    The Dallas Water Utilities is responsible for notifying the Caddo 
Nation of Oklahoma and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, 
Waco & Tawakoni) that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 31, 2015.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-21490 Filed 8-28-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50P