[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 232 (Friday, December 2, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87066-87067]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-28960]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22417; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Huntington District, Huntington, WV

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District 
(Huntington District), 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. 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 the Huntington District. 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 the Huntington District at the 
address in this notice by January 3, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Rodney Parker, District Archaeologist, U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers, Huntington District, 502 Eighth Street, Huntington, WV 
25701, telephone (304) 399-5729, 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District, 
Huntington, WV, that meet 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(s)

    In 1963, ten cultural items were removed from 15PI11 (the Slone 
Site), Fishtrap Lake, Pike County, KY. The items were excavated during 
legally authorized excavations performed by Lee Hanson in 1963, a 
graduate student at the University of Kentucky. In 1964, Robert 
Dunnell, and undergraduate at the University, completed the excavation 
of the Fort Ancient component of the site. Burial 7 at the site was 
reported to have included the fragmentary skeletal remains of an 
infant; unmodified faunal remains and pottery sherds were collected 
with the burial fill. No human remains associated with Burial 7 have 
been located. The skeletal remains in Burial 12 had completely decayed, 
but the construction pattern of the grave was distinct enough to permit 
its identification as a grave without the actual presence of human 
remains. An engraved stone was collected from the burial pit of Burial 
12. The items from these two burials have been housed at the University 
of Kentucky, Lexington, since their excavation. The ten unassociated 
funerary objects are one carved soapstone fragment, four ceramic 
sherds, and five fragments unmodified faunal remains.
    The funerary objects were determined to be affiliated with the 
Shawnee based on the physical archeological evidence which indicated a 
Fort Ancient period occupation at this site from A.D. 1000 to 1700. The 
Shawnee are generally considered the `southerners' or the southernmost 
of the Algonquian-speaking tribes, and oral tradition places their 
homeland along the central Ohio River Valley. The Shawnee are often 
associated with the Fort Ancient peoples who occupied the Ohio River 
Valley and have a long association with this territory in which they 
were first encountered by the Europeans by the mid seventeenth century 
including areas of southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and western West 
Virginia. The location of Fort Ancient archaeological sites within the 
Huntington District indicates that a strong historical and 
ethnohistorical link showing the region was occupied by the Shawnees in 
the early historic period. Based on the geographic, anthropological, 
linguistic, anthropological, and historical evidence, and information 
gained during tribal consultation, Huntington District has determined 
that the unassociated funerary objects from site 15PI11 are culturally 
affiliated with the Shawnee. The three federally recognized tribes with 
standing under NAGPRA are the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Shawnee Tribe.

Determinations Made by the Huntington District

    Officials of the Huntington District have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the ten cultural items 
described above 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 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(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects and the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians 
of Oklahoma, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Shawnee 
Tribe.

[[Page 87067]]

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 Mr. Rodney Parker, District Archaeologist, 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District, 502 Eighth Street, 
Huntington, WV 25701, telephone (304) 399-5729, email 
[email protected], by January 3, 2017. After that date, if 
no additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians 
of Oklahoma, the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, and the Shawnee 
Tribe may proceed.
    The Huntington District is responsible for notifying the Absentee 
Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of 
Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin; Cayuga 
Nation; Cherokee Nation; Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy's 
Reservation, Montana (previously listed as the Chippewa-Cree Indians of 
the Rocky Boy's Reservation, Montana); Citizen Potawatomi Nation, 
Oklahoma; Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Forest 
County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin; Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa 
and Chippewa Indians, Michigan; Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan; 
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan; Lac Courte Oreilles Band of 
Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Little River Band of 
Ottawa Indians, Michigan; Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, 
Michigan; Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of 
Michigan; Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota (six component 
reservations: Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake); Fond du Lac Band; Grant 
Portage Band; Leech Lake Band; Mille Lacs Band; White Earth Band); 
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan (previously listed 
as the Huron Potawatomi, Inc.); Oneida Nation (previously listed as the 
Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin); Oneida Nation of New York; 
Onondaga Nation; Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma; Pokagon Band of Potawatomi 
Indians, Michigan and Indiana; Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation 
(previously listed as the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, Kansas); 
Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; Red Lake 
Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota; Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of 
Michigan; Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (previously listed as the St. Regis 
Band of Mohawk Indians of New York); Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa 
Indians, Michigan; Seneca Nation of Indians (previously listed as 
Seneca Nation of New York); Seneca-Cayuga Nation (previously listed as 
the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma); Shawnee Tribe; Sokaogon Chippewa 
Community, Wisconsin; St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin; 
Tonawanda Band of Seneca (previously listed as the Tonawanda Band of 
Seneca Indians of New York); Tuscarora Nation; United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma; and Wyandotte Nation that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: November 15, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-28960 Filed 12-1-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P