[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 174 (Tuesday, September 8, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55478-55479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-19696]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030727; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has completed an 
inventory of an associated funerary object, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian Tribes, and has determined that a cultural 
affiliation between the associated funerary object and present-day 
Indian Tribes can reasonably be traced. Lineal descendants or 
representatives of any Indian Tribe not identified in this notice that 
wish to request transfer of control of this associated funerary object 
should submit a written request to the TVA. If no additional requestors 
come forward, transfer of control of the associated funerary object to 
the Indian Tribes stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe not 
identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of 
this 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 October 8, 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].

[[Page 55479]]


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 object was removed from an archeological 
site 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). 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 funerary object 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 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; 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 Object

    The site listed in this notice--1JA180, the Rudder site, 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 the excavation of this site 
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 other associated funerary objects from site 
1JA180 were listed in a Notice of Inventory Completion published in the 
Federal Register on January 14, 2014 (79 FR 2877-2878, January 14, 
2014). The cultural items listed in that notice have been transferred 
to The Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Recently, an additional associated 
funerary object from this site was discovered during the improvement of 
the curation of TVA's archeological collection at AMNH.
    On March 30, 1939, burial unit 8 was excavated at 1JA180, the 
Rudder site, in Jackson County, AL, following TVA's purchase of the 
site on November 22, 1937. Site 1JA180 was composed of a truncated 
trapezoidal mound showing multiple construction periods and a smaller 
mound containing most of the burial units. The culturally affiliated 
NAGPRA cultural items from site 1JA180 are from the Henry Island phase 
of the Mississippian period. The one associated funerary object is a 
shell bead.
    Spanish and French explorers of the 16th and 17th centuries 
indicated the presence of chiefdom-level tribal entities in the 
southeastern United States, and TVA has determined that the Coosa 
paramount chiefdom noted in historical chronicles is most likely 
related to Henry Island phase sites in this part of the Guntersville 
Reservoir. Tribal groups or towns that are constituents of The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation claim descent from the Coosa chiefdom. Consequently, 
based on historical and oral traditional information, the preponderance 
of the evidence indicates that in this part of the Guntersville 
Reservoir area, Henry Island phase sites are most likely culturally 
associated with groups now part of The Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

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 one associated 
funerary 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), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
associated funerary object listed in this notice and The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe not 
identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of 
this associated funerary object 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 October 
8, 2020. After that date, if no additional requestors have come 
forward, transfer of control of the associated funerary object to The 
Muscogee (Creek) Nation may proceed.
    The Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: August 3, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-19696 Filed 9-4-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P