[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 162 (Thursday, August 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51483-51484]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-18233]



[[Page 51483]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030744; 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 associated funerary objects in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has 
determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the associated 
funerary objects 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 associated funerary objects should submit 
a written request to the TVA. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the associated funerary objects 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 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 21, 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 associated funerary 
objects under the control of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, 
TN. The associated funerary objects 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 cultural items. The National Park 
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the associated funerary objects 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 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 Poarch Band of Creek 
Indians of Alabama); Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously listed as 
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 Associated Funerary Objects

    The site listed in this notice--1JA176, in Jackson County, AL--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 this excavation may be found in ``An Archaeological 
Survey of Guntersville Basin on the Tennessee River in Northern 
Alabama,'' by William S. Webb and Charles G. Wilder.
    Human remains and associated funerary objects from 1JA176 were 
listed in a Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal 
Register on March 31, 2014 (79 FR 18056-18057, March 31, 2014). 
Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(2)(i), all the cultural items listed in 
that notice have been transferred to The Muscogee (Creek) Nation. 
Recently, additional associated funerary objects from this site were 
found during an improvement in the curation of TVA's archeological 
collections at AMNH.
    From April 27, 1938, to November 10, 1939, excavation was conducted 
at the Cox site, 1JA176, in Jackson County, AL, following TVA's 
acquisition of the site on July 19, 1937. The site comprised a conical 
mound containing multiple stratigraphic zones that is believed to have 
originated as a truncated pyramid, as well as a village where most of 
the burial units were located. It 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). The two associated funerary 
objects are one animal bone and one Ledbetter projectile point. The 
human remains with which these funerary objects are associated could 
not be assigned to a specific occupation.

Determinations Made by the Tennessee Valley Authority

    Officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the two 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 associated 
funerary objects 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 
associated funerary objects 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 associated funerary objects.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(4), the Tennessee Valley 
Authority has agreed to transfer control of the associated funerary 
objects 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 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 21, 2020. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
associated funerary objects 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 51484]]


    Dated: August 4, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-18233 Filed 8-19-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P