[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 23, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16488-16489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-06128]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0033623; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Florence Indian Mound Museum, 
Florence, AL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Florence Indian Mound Museum has completed an inventory of 
human remains in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is no 
cultural affiliation between the human remains 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 human remains 
should submit a written request to the Florence Indian Mound Museum. If 
no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human 
remains 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 human remains should submit a written 
request with information in support of the request to the Florence 
Indian Mound Museum at the address in this notice by April 22, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Murphy, Florence Arts and 
Museums, 217 E Tuscaloosa Street, Florence, AL 35630, telephone (716) 
570-5613, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the

[[Page 16489]]

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains under 
the control of the Florence Indian Mound Museum, Florence, AL. The 
human remains were removed from Lauderdale 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 human remains. The National Park Service 
is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Florence 
Indian Mound Museum professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas [previously 
listed as Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas] and The Chickasaw Nation 
(hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    Sometime in the 1970s, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed from Lauderdale County, AL. In December of 
2019, the human remains were brought to the Kennedy-Douglass Center for 
the Arts by a man who claimed that his friend had removed the human 
remains from an unidentified site in Lauderdale County in the 1970s. 
The human remains--two tibia, one mandible, two parietal bones, one 
scapula, one radius, one ulna, one humerus, one thoracic bone, one rib, 
and one occipital bone--belong to an individual of unknown age and sex. 
No known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.

Determinations Made by the Florence Indian Mound Museum

    Officials of the Florence Indian Mound Museum have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on consultation with Katie 
Fillers, Tennessee Valley Authority archeological contractor.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of, at minimum, one 
individual of Native American ancestry.
     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 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 
Native American human remains were removed is the aboriginal land of 
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; Coushatta Tribe of 
Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of 
Oklahoma; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; Kialegee Tribal Town; Poarch 
Band of Creek Indians [previously listed as Poarch Band of Creeks]; 
Shawnee Tribe; 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 Tribes'').
     Treaties, Acts of Congress, or Executive Orders, indicate 
that the land from which the Native American human remains were removed 
is the aboriginal land of The Tribes.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains may be to 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 these human remains should submit a written request with information 
in support of the request to Brian Murphy, Florence Arts and Museums, 
217 E. Tuscaloosa Street, Florence, AL 35630, telephone (716) 570-5613, 
email [email protected], by April 22, 2022. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains to The Tribes may proceed.
    The Florence Indian Mound Museum is responsible for notifying The 
Consulted Tribes and The Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 17, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-06128 Filed 3-22-22; 8:45 am]
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