[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 91 (Thursday, May 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30339-30340]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10033]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035849; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: The Filson 
Historical Society, Louisville, KY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Filson Historical Society intends to 
repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of 
unassociated funerary

[[Page 30340]]

objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were 
removed from Fulton County, KY; Hickman County, KY; Lake County, TN; 
and Shelby County, TN.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after June 12, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Kelly Hyberger, The Filson Historical Society, 1310 South 
3rd Street, Louisville, KY 40208, telephone (502) 635-5083, 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 
Filson Historical Society. 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 summary or related records held by the Filson 
Historical Society.

Description

    On an unknown date, five unassociated funerary objects were removed 
from Hickman County, KY. These objects were removed by Phil Porter, 
most likely from a Mississippian mound complex known as McLeod's Bluff. 
The Filson purchased these items from Ira Archer in 1933. The five 
unassociated funerary objects are three ceramic effigy bottles, one 
ceramic water bottle with a stopper, and one ceramic water bottle.
    On an unknown date, nine unassociated funerary objects were removed 
from either Fulton County, KY, or Hickman County, KY. These objects 
were removed by Frank White, possibly from a Mississippian mound 
complex known as McLeod's Bluff. Filson records suggest that White and 
Phil Porter possibly worked in tandem to remove burial items from 
ceremonial and burial mounds. The Filson purchased these items from Ira 
Archer in 1933. The nine unassociated funerary objects are one stone 
plummet, one ceramic water bottle with incised curvilinear designs, 
three ceramic bowls, one ceramic water bottle, one ceramic bird effigy 
bowl, one plain ceramic bowl with loop-style handles, and one ceramic 
bowl with incised designs.
    On an unknown date, one associated funerary object was removed from 
a burial mound on the shore of Reelfoot Lake in Lake County, TN. The 
object was removed by an unknown resident of Hornbeak, TN, identified 
in Filson records only as a local bank cashier. The Filson purchased 
this item from Ira Archer in 1933. The one unassociated funerary object 
is a ceramic bottle.
    On an unknown date, one associated funerary object was removed by 
C.E. Hadley from a burial mound on the Mississippi River near Memphis 
in Shelby County, TN. The Filson purchased this item from Ira Archer in 
1933. The one unassociated funerary object is a ceramic bowl.
    On an unknown date, one associated funerary object was removed by 
C.C. Bacon from a mound on the Mississippi River near Memphis in Shelby 
County, TN. The Filson purchased this item from Ira Archer in 1933. The 
one unassociated funerary object is a carved shell mask.

Cultural Affiliation

    The cultural items 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, and geographical information.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Filson Historical Society has determined that:
     The 17 cultural items described above 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 and 
are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed 
from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and The Chickasaw 
Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by 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 cultural items in this notice to a requestor 
may occur on or after June 12, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Filson Historical Society must determine 
the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for 
joint repatriation of the cultural items are considered a single 
request and not competing requests. The Filson Historical Society 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 10.8, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: May 5, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-10033 Filed 5-10-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P