[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 87 (Friday, May 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29156-29157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09583]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035779; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Mobile District, Mobile, AL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

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

ADDRESSES: Ms. Alexandria Smith, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile 
District, 109 St. Joseph Street, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001, 
telephone (251) 690-2728, 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, Mobile 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, Mobile District.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from Monroe County, MS. During the early phases of mitigation 
for the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway, multiple sites, including 
Sharpley Bottoms (22MO656), were surveyed and evaluated under the 
direction of Judith A. Bense, and test excavations were performed 
between December 1978 and May 1979. No follow-up investigations were 
completed. The age and sex of these individuals is unidentified. The 14 
associated funerary objects are nine lots consisting of lithics, one 
lot consisting of clay, two lots consisting of faunal remains, one soil 
sample, and one ferrous sandstone.

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: archeological, 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, Mobile District has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 14 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 Jena Band of Choctaw Indians; 
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and The 
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

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

[[Page 29157]]

after June 5, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are 
received, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile 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, Mobile District, is 
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes 
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, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: April 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-09583 Filed 5-4-23; 8:45 am]
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