[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 27, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65404-65405]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-25731]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0029093]


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 
federally recognized Indian Tribes, and has determined that there is a 
cultural affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian 
Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or 
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 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 
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 27, 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 an archeological site in Marshall 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). 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 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 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 
September 5, 2017 (82 FR 41986-41987, September 5, 2017), and were 
transferred to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, Alabama-Quassarte 
Tribal Town, Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, and The Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation. Additional human remains were found during a recent improvement 
in the curation of the TVA archeological collections at AMNH.
    Between September 1938 and January 1939, human remains 
representing, at minimum, one individual were removed

[[Page 65405]]

from the Laws site, 1MS100, on Pine Island in Marshall County, AL, 
after TVA purchased the site on April 21, 1937. Excavations began at 
the levee adjacent to the river and proceeded by both vertical slicing 
and horizontal excavations. There appear to have been at least four 
occupations at this site, including a pre-ceramic period with steatite 
vessels; a village using limestone-tempered pottery during the Flint 
River phase (A.D. 500-1000); a late Mississippian occupation using 
shell-tempered ceramics and rectilinear wall trench structures (Crow 
Creek phase, A.D. 1500-1700); and the Euro-American trade period (circa 
A.D. 1670-1715). The human remains are from the Mississippian or 
historic Native American occupation. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Although there is no absolute certainty that Native Americans of 
the Mississippian period are directly related to modern federally 
recognized Tribes, a relationship of shared group identity can 
reasonably be traced between these modern Tribes and the human remains 
of the earlier culture identified as Mississippian. The preponderance 
of the evidence indicates that the cultural items from Mississippian 
and early historic occupations at site 1MS100 are culturally affiliated 
with Native Americans 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 centuries 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 their Tribe. The subsequent involuntary diaspora of these 
peoples resulted in descendants of the Koasati/Kaskinampo living among 
multiple federally recognized Tribes.

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 represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains 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 
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 27, 2019. After that date, if no additional requestors have 
come forward, transfer of control of the human remains 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 Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: October 8, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-25731 Filed 11-26-19; 8:45 am]
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