[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 60 (Friday, March 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17355-17357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-06431]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0029875; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Valley Authority, 
Knoxville, TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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[[Page 17356]]

SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has completed an 
inventory of human remains and associated funerary object in 
consultation with the appropriate Federally-recognized Indian Tribes, 
and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the 
human remains and associated funerary object and any present-day 
Federally-recognized Indian Tribes. Representatives of any Federally-
recognized Indian Tribe not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary object should submit a written request to the TVA. If no 
additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human 
remains and associated funerary object 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 human remains and associated funerary object should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to the TVA 
at the address in this notice by April 27, 2020.

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 human remains and 
associated funerary object under the control of the Tennessee Valley 
Authority, Knoxville, TN. The human remains and associated funerary 
object were removed from archeological site 40HS12 in Humphreys County, 
TN.
    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 
object. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
object was made by the TVA in consultation with representatives of the 
Cherokee Nation; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Osage 
Nation (previously listed as the Osage Tribe); 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

    40HS12, the Patterson site, was excavated as part of TVA's Kentucky 
reservoir project by the University of Tennessee, using labor and funds 
provided by the Works Progress Administration. Details regarding these 
excavations have never been published. Field reports regarding this 
site can be found at the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture 
(MM) and the TVA. The human remains and associated funerary object 
listed in this notice have been in the physical custody of the 
University of Tennessee since they were excavated. This Mississippian 
mound complex was divided into multiple special units by the excavators 
(Charles Nash and J. Joe Finkelstein). Units 71 and 74 were burial 
mounds located on land purchased by TVA on May 13, 1941. The pyramidal 
mound (unit 70), village (unit 75), and small mounds (units 72 and 73) 
were not on land purchased by the TVA. According to Nash, excavations 
on unit 70 were ``by private permission of the owners thru contract 
with the University of Tennessee.'' Consequently, only items from units 
71 and 74 are under the control of the TVA.
    The first documented excavation at this site was conducted by 
Clarence B. Moore during his 1914 tour of the Tennessee River Valley. 
Moore, who referred to this site as ``Dixie Landing,'' dug numerous 
pits in the large pyramidal mound and adjacent smaller mounds. Moore 
does not indicate whether he recovered any funerary objects.
    The field report for the mound in unit 74 lacks detail. It is 
described as a small, ovoid mound measuring 50 x 25 feet at its base. 
Finkelstein reports that, ``The mound, some three feet in height at 
present, was built upon an old land surface. It contained the remains 
of four burial[s], all in the south half of the mound; the north half 
was pretty thoroughly disturbed by a large looter's pit.'' At present, 
no human remains from unit 74 have been found at the MM.
    Unit 71 is a mound measuring 170 x 60 x ca.10 feet. It was heavily 
impacted by Moore and more recent looter pits prior to the Kentucky 
Reservation project. Nash indicates that the mound was made up of two 
phases of construction. Phase B, the lowest level of mound, ``was 
composed of a very dry brittle white clay . . .'' In phase B Nash 
identified ``four flesh burials, 1 skull, 2 open fire cremations and 1 
pit cremation . . .'' Phase A, the top-most layer, was made up of sandy 
humic clay. Within phase A Nash identified six in-flesh burials, one 
pit, five skulls, three stone box burials, one stone cist cremation, 
two clay basin cremations, and three open fire cremations. Evidence of 
stone box graves was only found in this upper phase of mound 
construction. From January 10 to April 3, 1942, human remains 
representing, at minimum, 25 individuals were removed from unit 71. 
Adults, one adolescent and one child are distinguished. No known 
individuals were identified. The one associated funerary object is a 
flint blade.

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 25 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the one object described 
in this notice is 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 the associated funerary object and any present-day 
Indian Tribe.
     According to final judgements of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the U.S. 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 
human remains may be to the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the United

[[Page 17357]]

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. The Tennessee 
Valley Authority has agreed to transfer control of the human remains to 
The Chickasaw Nation.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(4), the Tennessee Valley 
Authority has agreed to transfer control of the associated funerary 
object 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 human remains and 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 April 27, 2020. After that date, if no additional 
requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains 
and associated funerary object to The Chickasaw Nation may proceed.
    The Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: February 19, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-06431 Filed 3-26-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P