[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 165 (Monday, August 28, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40803-40804]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-18187]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-23751; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Tennessee Valley 
Authority, Knoxville, TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 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. Further, TVA has 
determined that a cultural affiliation between the unassociated 
funerary objects and present-day federally recognized Indian Tribes can 
be reasonably traced. 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 TVA. 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 TVA at the address in this 
notice by September 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas O. Maher, TVA, 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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN, which 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 Items

    On September 28, 1938, two cultural items were removed from the 
Laws site (1MS100) on Pine Island in Marshall County, AL, after TVA 
acquired the land on April 21, 1937. There appear to have been at least 
four occupations at site 1MS100: A pre-ceramic period with steatite 
vessels; a village period with limestone-tempered pottery during the 
Flint River phase (A.D. 500-1000); a late Mississippian occupation with 
shell-tempered ceramics and rectilinear wall trench structures (Crow 
Creek phase, A.D. 1500-1700); and burials with Euro-American trade 
goods (circa A.D. 1670-1715). The two unassociated funerary objects are 
one brass pendant and one brass ring.
    Excavation records from site 1MS100 indicated that these two 
unassociated funerary objects were found in burial unit 1 with the 
fragmentary remains of a child. The human remains are no longer 
present. The brass ring found in burial unit 1 is similar to the brass 
rings found in burial units 17 and 40 of the same site which were also 
child burials. In a separate Notice of Inventory Completion, the human 
remains from burial units 17 and 40 have been culturally affiliated to 
Native American descendants of the Koasati/Kaskinampo. These 
descendants include the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously 
listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-Quassarte 
Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and The Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation.
    On November 29, 1937, two unassociated funerary objects were 
excavated from burial unit 6 at site 1MS121 on Pine Island in Marshall 
County, AL, after TVA purchased the land on April 19, 1937. There were 
excavations in both the village and adjacent mound. There are no 
radiocarbon dates for this site. Artifacts recovered from the site 
indicate both a Woodland and Mississippian occupation. The two 
unassociated funerary objects are one Barton Incised jar and one Bell 
Plain carinated bowl. Both ceramic vessels are from the Mississippian 
period.
    Excavation documents indicate that burial unit 6 did contain human 
remains, with these funerary objects placed near the head of the 
individual. These human remains are no longer present. The unassociated 
funerary objects are similar to those found in burial units 2, 4, and 5 
of the same site. In a separate Notice of Inventory Completion, the 
human remains from burial units 2, 4, and 5 have been

[[Page 40804]]

culturally affiliated to Native American descendants of the Koasati/
Kaskinampo. These descendants include the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of 
Texas (previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); 
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and The 
Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
    Chronicles from Spanish explorers of the 16th century and French 
explorers of the 17th and 18th century indicate the presence of 
chiefdom level tribal entities in the southeastern United States which 
resemble the Mississippian chiefdoms. Linguistic analysis of place 
names noted by multiple Spanish explorers indicates that Koasati 
speaking groups inhabited northeastern Alabama. Early maps and research 
into the historic Native American occupation of northeastern Alabama 
indicates that the Koasati (as called by the English) or the Kaskinampo 
(as called by the French) were found at multiple sites in Jackson and 
Marshall Counties in the 17th and 18th centuries. Oral history, 
traditions, and expert opinions of the descendants of Koasati/
Kaskinampo indicate that this portion of the Tennessee River valley was 
a homeland of the Koasati/Kaskinampo people. The subsequent involuntary 
diaspora of these peoples resulted in descendants of the Koasati/
Kaskinampo among multiple federally recognized Indian Tribes.

Determinations Made by the Tennessee Valley Authority

    Officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the four 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 specific burial sites of Native 
American individuals.
     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 Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas 
(previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-
Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation.

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 Dr. Thomas O. Maher, TVA, 400 West Summit 
Hill Drive, WT11D, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone (865) 632-7458, 
email [email protected], by September 27, 2017. After that date, if no 
additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the 
unassociated funerary objects to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas 
(previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-
Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation may proceed.
    The 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); Cherokee Nation; 
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; 
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Poarch Band of Creeks (previously 
listed as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama); The Chickasaw 
Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; 
The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee 
Indians in Oklahoma that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 11, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-18187 Filed 8-25-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P