[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 150 (Monday, August 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38055-38056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-16691]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0028407; 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 associated funerary objects in consultation with the 
appropriate Federally-recognized Indian Tribe, and has determined that 
there is no cultural affiliation between the associated funerary 
objects and any present-day Federally-recognized Indian Tribe. 
Representatives of any Federally-recognized Indian Tribe not identified 
in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these 
associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the TVA. 
If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Federally-
recognized Indian Tribe 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 associated funerary objects should submit a written request with 
information in support of the request to the TVA at the address in this 
notice by September 4, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas O. Maher, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West 
Summit Hill Drive, WT11C, 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 associated funerary 
objects under the control of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, 
TN. The associated funerary objects were removed from the following 
archeological sites in Madison and Lawrence County, AL: 1MA48 and 
1LA13.
    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 associated funerary objects was made 
by TVA professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
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; Poarch Band of Creeks (previously 
listed as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama); The Chickasaw 
Nation; The Choctaw Nation; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; Thlopthlocco 
Tribal Town; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma (hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    The sites listed in this notice were excavated as part of TVA's 
Wheeler reservoir project by the Alabama Museum of Natural History 
(AMNH) at the University of Alabama, using labor and funds provided by 
the Works Progress Administration. Details

[[Page 38056]]

regarding this site may be found in The Flint River Site, MA48, by 
William S. Webb and David L. DeJarnette and An Archaeological Survey of 
Wheeler Basin on the Tennessee River in Northern Alabama, by William S. 
Webb. The associated funerary objects listed in this notice have been 
in the physical custody of the AMNH at the University of Alabama since 
excavation but are under the control of TVA. The human remains and 
other associated funerary objects were previously listed in a Notice of 
Inventory Completion (81 FR 60380-60381, September 1, 2016) and 
transferred to The Chickasaw Nation. Additional funerary objects were 
found during a recent improvement in the curation of the TVA 
archeological collections at AMNH.
    From June to December 1938, excavations took place at the Flint 
River site, 1MA48, in Madison County, AL. Excavation commenced after 
TVA had acquired the two parcels of land encompassing site 1MA48 on 
November 11, 1935 and July 3, 1936. Excavations revealed multiple 
occupations, including the Late Archaic (4000-1000 B.C.) period, 
Colbert (300 B.C.-A.D. 100), Flint River (A.D. 500-1000), and the early 
Mississippian Langston phase (A.D. 900-1200). The one associated 
funerary object is a sandstone bowl.
    From May to June 1934, excavations took place at site 1LA13 in 
Lawrence County, AL. Excavation commenced after TVA purchased this land 
February 14, 1934. Site 1LA13 was one of the first sites excavated on 
TVA land in north Alabama. Information about the excavations is not 
abundant. Excavations revealed this site to be a burial mound. All the 
burials were considered inclusive to the mound, not intruded into it at 
a later date. An examination of the funerary objects excavated at this 
site indicates that this mound was created during the Hobbs Island 
phase of the Mississippian period (A.D. 1200-1500). The one associated 
funerary object is a Mississippian Plain bowl.

Determinations Made by the Tennessee Valley Authority

    Officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority have determined that:
     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 associated 
funerary objects and any present-day Indian Tribe.
     According to final judgements of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, the land from which the 
cultural items were removed is the aboriginal land of the Cherokee 
Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and the United Keetoowah Band 
of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.
     The Treaty of September 20, 1816, indicates that the land 
from which the cultural items were removed is the aboriginal land of 
The Chickasaw Nation.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1)(ii), the disposition of the 
cultural items may be to the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. The Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of 
Cherokee Indians; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma have declined to accept transfer of control of the human 
remains.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(4), the Tennessee Valley 
Authority has agreed to transfer control of the associated funerary 
objects associated to The Chickasaw Nation.

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 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, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 
37902-1401, telephone (865) 632-7458, email [email protected], by 
September 4, 2019. After that date, if no additional requestors have 
come forward, transfer of control of the associated funerary objects to 
The Chickasaw Nation may proceed.
    The Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: July 9, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-16691 Filed 8-2-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P