[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 219 (Tuesday, November 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56375-56376]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-24664]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0026715; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Historic Westville, Inc., 
Columbus, GA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Historic Westville, Inc. has completed an inventory of human 
remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has 
determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian 
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 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 and 
associated funerary objects should submit a written request to Historic 
Westville, Inc. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice 
may proceed.

DATES: 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 and associated funerary 
objects should submit a written request with information in support of 
the request to Historic Westville, Inc. at the address in this notice 
by December 13, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Terra Martinez, Historic Westville, Inc., 1130 Martin Luther 
King Jr. Blvd., Columbus, GA 31906, telephone (706) 940-0057, 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 of Historic Westville, 
Inc., Columbus, GA. The human remains and associated funerary objects 
were removed from unknown parts of northern Georgia and southern 
Tennessee.
    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 and associated funerary 
objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Historic 
Westville, Inc. professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta 
Tribe of Texas (previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of 
Texas); Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Poarch Band 
of Creek Indians (previously listed as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians 
of Alabama); Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously listed as the 
Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & 
Tampa Reservations)); The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation; The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and the United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, hereafter referred to 
as ``The Consulted Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1985, human remains representing, at minimum, four individuals 
were donated to Historic Westville, Inc. along with approximately 
13,000 other Native American artifacts and reproductions. The 
collection was donated by Dr. Austin Flint. All attempts by the staff 
of Historic Westville to reach Dr. Flint or his descendants have been 
unsuccessful. Documentation of the donation consists of a handwritten 
inventory done by an appraiser preceding the donation and a signed deed 
of gift. The collection was re-discovered by current staff in 2016. The 
four individuals include one subadult of indeterminate sex based on the 
mandible fragment with unerupted teeth and three individuals of 
indeterminate

[[Page 56376]]

age and sex. The 150 associated funerary objects are: 37 beads, 27 
gorgets and possible gorgets, 34 celts and possible celts, 18 turtle 
and mollusk shells, 21 clay pots that may be reproductions, five flutes 
that are possible reproductions, five large decorated sherds, one pipe, 
one mask that is a possible reproduction, and one unknown ceramic.
    Consulting archeologists identified a percentage of the collection 
to aid in determining point of origin for the collection. A 5% random 
sampling of over 1,000 project points revealed that over 80% originated 
from Georgia and Tennessee. A 20% sampling of pottery sherds also 
verified that over 80% of the sherds were from Georgia and Tennessee.

Determinations Made by Historic Westville, Inc.

    Officials of Historic Westville, Inc. have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on their inclusion in a 
collection of over 13,000 Native American artifacts.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of four individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 150 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 associated funerary objects and any present-day 
Indian Tribe.
     According to the final judgement of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, the land from which the 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed is aboriginal land of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas 
(previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-
Quassarte Tribal Town; Catawba Indian Nation (aka Catawba Tribe of 
South Carolina); Cherokee Nation; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Poarch Band of Creeks (previously 
listed as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama); Sac & Fox Tribe 
of the Mississippi in Iowa; Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously 
listed as the Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, 
Hollywood & Tampa Reservation)); Shawnee Tribe; The Chickasaw Nation; 
The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The 
Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; and the United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, hereafter referred to 
as ``The Tribes.''
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to The Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    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 and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Terra 
Martinez, Historic Westville, Inc., 1130 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 
Columbus, GA 31906, telephone (706) 940-0057, email 
[email protected], by December 13, 2018. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to The Tribes may 
proceed.
    Historic Westville, Inc. is responsible for notifying The Tribes 
and The Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: October 9, 2018.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2018-24664 Filed 11-9-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P