[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 86 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28608-28609]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09475]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035773; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Savannah District, Savannah, GA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah 
District, has completed an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human

[[Page 28609]]

remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from Columbia County, GA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after June 5, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Rodney Parker, Regulatory Archeologist and District 
Tribal Liaison, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, 100 W 
Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, GA 31401, telephone (912) 652-5964, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District. The National Park 
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. 
Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including 
the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related 
records held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were 
removed from Columbia County, GA. Between 1948-1951, the National Park 
Service's River Basin Survey conducted archeological investigations at 
the Lake Springs Village site (9CB22), located within the former 
Clark's Hill Lake, now Thurmond Lake. Subsequent excavations at this 
site were conducted by the Smithsonian Institution on behalf of the 
Savannah District in response to the imminent construction of Thurmond 
Lake. The human remains belong to four adults, one of whom is likely 
male, and two individuals for whom no further information is available. 
No known individuals were identified. (Additional human remains and 
cultural objects removed from this site are housed at the Smithsonian 
Institution and are under its control.) The 425 associated funerary 
objects are two rocks, three wood fragments, one lot of soil matrix, 
two bone tools, 21 gastropod shells, one matrix nodule with bone, one 
lot of bone and shell in matrix, six turtle shell fragments, 185 faunal 
remains, 99 potsherds, six projectile points, one quartz projectile 
point, 38 lithics, one petrified wood, one biface, 14 noncultural 
objects, two fire-cracked rocks, two worked bones, 22 shell, four 
flakes, one projectile point base, one quartz nodule, one quartz thumb 
scraper, two worked quartz, and eight unidentified clay items.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, 
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity 
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures 
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: anthropological, archeological, biological, geographical, 
historical, other relevant information, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of six individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 425 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after June 5, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers, Savannah District, must determine the most appropriate 
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects are considered a single 
request and not competing requests. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Savannah District, is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, Sec.  
10.10, and Sec.  10.14.

    Dated: April 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-09475 Filed 5-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P