[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 61 (Thursday, April 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17193-17194]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-06660]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0031605; 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 May 3, 2021.

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

[[Page 17194]]

control of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN. The 
associated funerary objects were removed from archeological site 1JA305 
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 associated funerary objects. 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 of Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribe 
of Texas [previously listed as Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas]; 
Cherokee Nation; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; Poarch Band of Creeks [previously listed as Poarch Band of 
Creek Indians of Alabama]; The Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of 
Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; 
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

    Human remains and associated funerary objects from site 1JA305 were 
listed in a Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal 
Register on May 3, 2019 (84 FR 19111-19113, May 3, 2019). Pursuant to 
43 CFR 10.11(c)(2)(i) and (c)(4), all the cultural items listed in that 
notice were transferred to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas 
[previously listed as Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas]; Alabama-
Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation. Recently, during a curation improvement project, 
additional associated funerary objects from this site were discovered 
at the Alabama Museum of Natural History.
    In 1973, excavations took place at the Widows Creek site, 1JA305, 
in Jackson County, AL, as part of the expansion of TVA's Widows Creek 
power plant. TVA purchased the land encompassing this site on September 
12, 1943. Multiple calibrated radiocarbon dates from this site 
indicated Early Woodland (600-100 B.C.) and Late Woodland (A.D. 500-
1100) occupations. The recently identified associated funerary objects 
discussed in this notice include one lot of whole and fragmented snail 
shell from burial 2.

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 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 these cultural items.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(4), the Tennessee Valley 
Authority has agreed to transfer control of the associated funerary 
objects to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas [previously listed as 
Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas]; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; 
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation 
(hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').

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 the 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 May 3, 
2021. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the associated funerary objects to The Tribes 
may proceed.
    The Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 16, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-06660 Filed 3-31-21; 8:45 am]
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