[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 152 (Thursday, August 6, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47809-47810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-17171]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030554; 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 and associated funerary objects 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 objects 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 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 human remains and 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 8, 2020.

[[Page 47810]]


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 objects under the control of the Tennessee Valley 
Authority, Knoxville, TN, and stored at the McClung Museum of Natural 
History and Culture (MM) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. 
The human remains and associated funerary objects were excavated from 
40BN74, the Cherry archeological site, in Benton 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 
objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by TVA professional staff 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 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

    Site 40BN74 was excavated as part of TVA's Big Sandy Creek 
dewatering project by the University of Tennessee, using labor and 
funds provided by the Works Progress Administration. Details regarding 
these excavations have not been published. A field report by Douglas 
Osborn regarding this site can be found at the MM and TVA. The human 
remains and associated funerary objects listed in this notice have been 
in the physical custody of the University of Tennessee since 
excavation.
    During August and September of 1941, human remains representing, at 
minimum, 81 individuals were removed from site 40BN74, in Benton 
County, TN. These human remains represent 17 females, 17 males and 47 
individuals of undeterminable sex. They also represent adults, sub-
adults, and infants. No known individuals were identified. The 612 
associated funerary objects include seven animal bones, five antler 
fragments, four antler projectile points, one antler section, three 
antler tools, one awl splinter, eight bone awls, one bone bead, four 
bone pins, three bone shaft wrenches, one bone whistle, one Busycon 
shell spoon, one chert awl, one chert blade, one chert knife, one conch 
shell dipper, one crinoid bead, one cut deer humerus, one deer 
metapodial bone, one discoidal shell bead, three dog burials, 158 
gastropod beads, one horn drift, 18 huckleberry seeds, one Ledbetter 
projectile point, one mussel shell spoon, one pink quartzite bead, 11 
projectile points, one projectile point base, one sample of red ochre, 
one rodent tooth, one scrapper fragment, two shells, three shell or 
bone beads, 26 shell beads, two shell pendants, 14 snail shells, 13 
snake vertebrae, 140 spherical shells, one stone bead, one stone drill, 
one tubular pipe, one turtle plastron, two turtle shell bracelets, and 
161 worked gastropod shells.
    Site 40BN74 contained abundant pits (44) that Osborne divided into 
three types. One type comprised small circular or irregular-shaped pits 
that often contained burials. A second type included circular pits 
extending 2-4 feet into the subsoil that were not obviously fire pits. 
The third type was represented by very large pits that, as Osborne 
suggested, might be the remains of semi-subterranean pit houses.
    In his 2014 dissertation, Thaddeus Bissett presented three 
radiocarbon dates from this site--6975  90 BP, 6153  77 BP, and 7088  87 BP. According to Bissett, the 
available evidence indicates that the primary occupation of 40BN74 was 
during the Late Archaic.

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 81 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 612 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 Native American 
human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day 
Indian Tribe.
     The Treaty of October 19, 1818, 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 Chickasaw Nation.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(4), the Tennessee Valley 
Authority has agreed to transfer control of the associated funerary 
objects 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 September 8, 2020. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and 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: June 30, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-17171 Filed 8-5-20; 8:45 am]
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