[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7766-7767]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-03635]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0024982; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: United States Army 
Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, Tulsa, OK

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The United States Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa 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 United States 
Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa 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 United States Army Corps of 
Engineers, Tulsa District, at the address in this notice by March 26, 
2018.

ADDRESSES: Michelle Horn, CESWT-ODR-N, US Army Corps of Engineers, 
Tulsa District, 2488 East 81st Street, Tulsa, OK 74137-4290, telephone 
(918) 669-7642, 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

[[Page 7767]]

items under the control of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, 
Tulsa District, Tulsa, OK, 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 1971, human remains and funerary objects were exposed during a 
work project at site 34JN30, Lake Texoma, Johnson County, OK, and 
removed by University of Oklahoma staff. No known individuals were 
identified. Two hand painted semi-porcelain tea cup fragments (re-fit 
into one object) were located with human tibiae fragments and 
interpreted as representing a burial. The tibiae fragments were not 
located in the collection during a NAGPRA inventory in 1995, nor during 
a re-inventory in 2004, and may not have been collected at the time of 
excavation. The one unassociated funerary object consists of the two 
teacup fragments re-fit into a whole object.
    The burial was located within the region historically occupied by 
The Chickasaw Nation. Two other burials were recovered at 34JN30 and 
were repatriated to The Chickasaw Nation in accordance with NAGPRA in 
2013 (78 FR 27995-27996, 05/13/2013). Those burials conformed to the 
burial practices of the Chickasaw as seen in ethnographic data, 
including the placement of grave goods on top of the burial with sheets 
of bark. The third burial, represented by the tibiae fragments and 
broken teacup, was located 25 feet from the other two and can 
reasonably be assumed to be associated with the same site. The temporal 
placement of this site in the mid-1800s was based on the archaeological 
seriation of historic artifacts from the burials and larger site 
assemblage.

Determinations Made by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa 
District

    Officials of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa 
District, have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the one cultural item 
described above is 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 object and The Chickasaw 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 Michelle Horn, CESWT-ODR-N, US Army Corps of 
Engineers, Tulsa District, 2488 East 81st Street, Tulsa, OK 74137-4290, 
telephone (918) 669-7642, email [email protected], by 
March 26, 2018. After that date, if no additional claimants have come 
forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary object to The 
Chickasaw Nation may proceed.
    The United States Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, is 
responsible for notifying The Chickasaw Nation that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: February 2, 2018.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2018-03635 Filed 2-21-18; 8:45 am]
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