[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12121-12122]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05063]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20267; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Valley Authority, 
Knoxville, TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has completed an 
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects in 
consultation with the appropriate Federally recognized Indian tribes 
and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the 
human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day 
federally recognized Indian tribes. Representatives of any federally 
recognized Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified 
in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human 
remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request 
to Tennessee Valley Authority. If no additional requestors come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the federally recognized Indian tribes stated in 
this notice may proceed.

DATES: Representatives of any federally recognized Indian tribe not 
identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of 
these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to TVA at 
the address in this notice by April 7, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas O. Maher, Tennessee Valley Authority, 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. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects under the control and possession of TVA. 
The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from 
site 40SM113, in Smith County, TN, in 1976.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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 and associated funerary 
objects was made by TVA's professional staff. Representatives of the 
following tribes were notified on January 29, 2015: Absentee-Shawnee 
Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas 
(previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-
Quassarte Tribal Town; Cherokee Nation; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; 
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Kialegee Tribal Town; Shawnee Tribe; The Chickasaw Nation; The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; and the United Keetoowah Band 
of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. A telephone conference to consult on 
this repatriation took place on April 24, 2015, with tribal 
representatives of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma. The inability to determine whether aboriginal lands were 
implicated in this NAGPRA disposition led to further consultation with 
the tribes on June 15, 2015.

[[Page 12122]]

    As a result of this further consultation, TVA received requests for 
joint transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects from the Cherokee Nation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, 
the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the 
Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, the Shawnee Tribe, and the United Keetoowah 
Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. No objections to this joint 
transfer of control were received from the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of 
Texas (previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas), the 
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, the Chickasaw Nation, and the Coushatta 
Tribe of Louisiana.

History and Description of the Remains

    In April 1976, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from the Dixon Creek site, 40SM113. The Dixon 
Creek site, 40SM113, was first recorded in 1972 as SI-1 (Surface 
Indication 1) by Major McCollough of the University of Tennessee 
(McCollough 1972). Under contract with TVA, Steven Fox completed 
additional survey work between 1974 and 1976. In April 1976, four test 
units were excavated. Test Unit 4 uncovered the only human remains and 
associated funerary objects found at this site. A single adult male 
Native American was interred in a semi-flexed position within a 5x4 
foot burial pit. No known individuals were identified. The two 
associated funerary objects are two shell-tempered ceramic vessels.
    The vessels found with the human remains appear to place the burial 
in the Middle Cumberland Mississippian period, A.D. 1050-1450. The lack 
of any detailed information on these human remains and funerary objects 
leads TVA to designate them as culturally unidentifiable.
    Site 40SM113 is in Smith County, TN, north of the Cumberland River. 
The site is outside the boundary of any areas recognized in a final 
judgment of the Indian Claims Commission or the United States Court of 
Claims. Although there are no treaties between the United States 
Government and a Native American tribe for this area, there was a 
treaty negotiated before the creation of the U.S.A. Richard Henderson, 
representing the Transylvania Company, met with the Cherokee to 
negotiate the purchase of land including Smith County, TN, for the 
creation of a 14th colony on March 14, 1775. The Treaty of Sycamore 
Shoals was not acknowledged by the United States Government or the 
governments of the states of Virginia and North Carolina. An unratified 
treaty cannot be used to identify aboriginal lands (75 FR 49, March 15, 
2010).
    Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.16, the Secretary of the Interior may make a 
recommendation for a transfer of control of culturally unidentifiable 
human remains and associated funerary objects. Tennessee Valley 
Authority requested that the Secretary, through the Native American 
Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee, recommend the 
proposed transfer of control of the culturally unidentifiable human 
remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to the Cherokee 
Nation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe 
of Oklahoma, The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, 
the Shawnee Tribe, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma. No objections to this joint transfer of control were received 
from the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously listed as the 
Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas), the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, 
the Chickasaw Nation, and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana.

Determinations Made By the Tennessee Valley Authority

    Officials of TVA have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains and 
associated funerary objects described in this notice are Native 
American based on their presence in prehistoric archeological contexts.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the two objects 
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.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and any present-day Indian tribe.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11, the ``tribal land'' or the 
``aboriginal land'' provenience of the human remains cannot be 
determined.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.16, the disposition of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects will be to the Cherokee Nation, 
the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of 
Oklahoma, The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Shawnee Tribe, the 
Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee 
Indians in Oklahoma for a joint disposition of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to these federally recognized tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any federally recognized Indian tribe not 
identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of 
these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Dr. 
Thomas O. Maher, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill 
Drive, WT11D, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone (865) 632-7458, email 
[email protected], by April 7, 2016. After that date, if no additional 
requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects to the Cherokee Nation, the Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, the 
Shawnee Tribe, The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Thlopthlocco Tribal 
Town, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma may 
proceed.
    TVA is responsible for notifying the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of 
Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously 
listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-Quassarte 
Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Cherokee Nation; Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Kialegee 
Tribal Town; Shawnee Tribe; The Chickasaw Nation; The Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; and the United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 4, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-05063 Filed 3-7-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P