[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60447-60448]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24401]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0029094; 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 human remains 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 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 
should submit a written request to the TVA. If no additional requestors 
come forward, transfer of control of the human remains 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 should submit a written 
request with information in support of the request to the TVA at the 
address in this notice by December 9, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas O. Maher, TVA, 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 human remains under 
the control of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN. The human 
remains were removed from the Cox site, 1JA176, in Jackson County, AL.
    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. The National Park Service 
is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by TVA 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of 
Texas (previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); 
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of 
Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Kialegee Tribal 
Town; Poarch Band of Creeks (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)); Shawnee Tribe; The Chickasaw Nation; 
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 Consulted 
Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    The site listed in this notice was excavated as part of TVA's 
Guntersville 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 regarding these excavations 
and sites may be found in a report, ``An Archaeological Survey of 
Guntersville Basin on the Tennessee River in Northern Alabama,'' by 
William S. Webb and Charles G. Wilder. Human remains and other 
associated funerary objects from this site were previously listed in a 
Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register on 
March 31, 2014 (79 FR 18056, March 31, 2014), and were transferred to 
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Additional human remains were found during 
a recent improvement in the curation of the TVA archeological 
collections at AMNH.
    From April 27, 1938, to November 10, 1939, human remains 
representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from the Cox 
site, 1JA176, in Jackson County, AL. Excavation of the site commenced 
after TVA had acquired this land on July 19, 1937 for the Guntersville 
project. The site was composed of both a conical mound believed to have 
originally been a truncated pyramid with multiple stratigraphic zones, 
and a village containing most of the burial units. This site was 
occupied during the Woodland period (300 B.C.-A.D.1000) and the Crow 
Creek phase of the Mississippian period (ca. A.D. 1400-1600). No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.

Determinations Made by the Tennessee Valley Authority

    Officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on their presence in a 
prehistoric archeological site and osteological analysis.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
     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 any present-day Indian Tribe.
     According to final judgments of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, the land from which the 
Native American human remains 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 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)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains may be to The Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

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 should submit a written request with information 
in support of the request to Dr. Thomas O. Maher, TVA, 400 West Summit 
Hill Drive, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone (865) 632-7458, 
email [email protected], by December 9, 2019. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains to The Muscogee (Creek) Nation may proceed.
    The Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.


[[Page 60448]]


    Dated: October 8, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-24401 Filed 11-7-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P