[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5030-5031]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01355]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0029471; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, Fritch, 
TX; Correction; Correction

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice; correction.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area 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 a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and associated funerary objects 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 and associated funerary objects should submit a written request 
to Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. If no additional requestors 
come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects 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 
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 Lake Meredith National Recreation Area at the 
address in this notice by February 27, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Eric Smith, Superintendent, Lake Meredith National 
Recreation Area, P.O. Box 1460, Fritch, TX 79036, telephone (806) 857-
0300, 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 the U.S. Department of 
the Interior, National Park Service, Lake Meredith National Recreation 
Area, Fritch, TX. The human remains and associated funerary objects 
were removed from sites in Potter County, TX.
    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 
Superintendent, Lake Meredith National Recreation Area.
    This notice corrects the minimum number of individuals, number of 
associated funerary objects, cultural affiliation, and one site number 
reported in two previously published notices: Notice of Inventory 
Completion (66 FR

[[Page 5031]]

32845-32846, June 18, 2001); and corrected Notice of Inventory 
Completion (82 FR 33512-33513, July 20, 2017). This notice replaces 
both the original Notice of Inventory Completion of June 18, 2001 and 
the corrected Notice of Inventory Completion of July 20, 2017. It was 
discovered during preparation for repatriation that some associated 
funerary objects had been inadvertently omitted from the published 
notices, one site number had been incorrectly recorded in the June 2001 
notice, and one individual was described in both the June 2001 notice 
and a 2018 Notice of Inventory Completion (83 FR 04250-04251, January 
30, 2018). Additional information received during later consultations 
and site visits resulted in a change to the determination of cultural 
affiliation. Transfer of control of the items in this correction notice 
has not occurred.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Lake 
Meredith National Recreation Area professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; Cheyenne and 
Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma (previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho 
Tribes of Oklahoma); Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma; Wichita and Affiliated Tribes 
(Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma; and the Cohuiltecan 
Nation, a non-federally recognized Indian group.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1961, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from State Site 41PT12 in Potter County, TX, during a 
legally authorized survey of the area then under the management of the 
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present. Items found elsewhere at the site indicate that these human 
remains probably were buried during the Late Prehistoric period (A.D. 
900-1700).
    In 1964, human remains representing, at minimum, 43 individuals 
were removed from the Footprint site in Potter County, TX, then under 
the management of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of 
Reclamation, during a legally authorized excavation by F.E. Green of 
Texas Tech University. No known individuals were identified. The 928 
associated funerary objects are two pots, 70 shell beads, 11 knives or 
knife fragments, 14 awls, two shell pendants, one pipe, 417 pieces of 
debitage, three stones, five flakes, seven bones, 155 bone scraps, 54 
sherds, 40 pieces of daub, one piece of ochre, one worked shell, 70 
charcoal samples, four soil samples, one chopper, one mano fragment, 
two bifaces, one uniface, five projectile points, one basketry 
fragment, nine worked bones, two shell gorgets, 13 worked flakes, 35 
unworked bones, and one wood sample. The associated funerary objects 
indicate that these human remains were probably buried during the 
Antelope Creek Focus of the Plains Village-Panhandle Aspect (A.D. 1100-
1400).
    On March 15, 1965, Lake Meredith National Recreation Area, then 
called Sanford National Recreation Area, came under the joint 
administration of the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park 
Service. Control of the collections recovered prior to that date has 
been assumed by the National Park Service.
    In June 1969, human remains representing, at minimum, four 
individuals were removed from Blue Creek Site in Potter County, TX, 
during legally authorized excavations by the Texas Archaeological 
Society. No known individuals were identified. The 266 associated 
funerary objects are three flakes, one bone scrap, two mineral 
specimens, 253 sherds, three pebbles, three projectile points, and one 
bone artifact. The associated funerary objects indicate that these 
human remains were probably buried during the Plains Village-Panhandle 
Aspect (A.D. 1100-1400).
    Archeological information indicates a continuous occupation of the 
Texas panhandle area from A.D. 1 through the Plains Village-Panhandle 
Aspect. Wichita oral tradition links these earlier populations with the 
Escanxaques, or Iscani people, a constituent band of the present-day 
Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), 
Oklahoma. Anthropological literature, archeological data, and tribal 
oral histories identify these peoples as being predecessors to the 
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, 
Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.

Determinations Made by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park 
Service, Lake Meredith National Recreation Area

    Officials of U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, 
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 48 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 1,194 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), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Pawnee 
Nation of Oklahoma and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, 
Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma.

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 and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Eric Smith, Superintendent, Lake Meredith 
National Recreation Area, P.O. Box 1460, Fritch, TX 79036, telephone 
(806) 857-0300, email [email protected], by February 27, 2020. After 
that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes 
(Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma may proceed.
    The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Lake 
Meredith National Recreation Area is responsible for notifying the 
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Oklahoma 
(previously listed as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma); 
Comanche Nation, Oklahoma; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Pawnee 
Nation of Oklahoma; Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, 
Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma; and Cohuiltecan Nation, a non-federally 
recognized Indian group, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 6, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-01355 Filed 1-27-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P