[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 100 (Wednesday, May 24, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 33635]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11017]



[[Page 33635]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035912; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Nashville District, Nashville, TN and the University of Tennessee, 
Department of Anthropology, Knoxville, TN

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, Nashville 
District, in cooperation with the University of Tennessee, Department 
of Anthropology (UTK), has completed an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects and has determined that there is no 
cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects and any Indian Tribe. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from Stewart County, TN.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice may occur on or after June 23, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Valerie McCormack, Archaeologist, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Nashville District, 110 9th Avenue South, Room A-405, 
Nashville, TN 37203, telephone (615) 736-7847, email 
[email protected] and Dr. Ozlem Kilic, Vice Provost 
for Academic Affairs, University of Tennessee, 527 Andy Holt Tower, 
Knoxville, TN 37996-0152, telephone (865) 974-2454, email 
[email protected] and [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, Nashville 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, Nashville District.

Description

    In June and July of 1974, human remains representing, at minimum, 
eight individuals were removed from 40SW23, the Stone Site or Bear 
Creek Site, in Stewart County, TN, during excavations conducted by 
Murray State University. This site lies within the Barkley Dam 
operating project. Subsequently, these ancestors and objects were 
transferred to UTK, where they currently reside. The human remains 
belong to seven infants and one child of indeterminate age. No known 
individuals were identified. The 15 associated funerary objects are 
eight faunal bones and teeth, one shell, one potsherd, one rock, one 
lot consisting of charcoal fragments, and three earplug-shaped items 
composed of a fibrous plant material. (A Notice of Inventory Completion 
for other human remains and associated funerary objects from this site 
was published in the Federal Register on July 19, 2017, and a 
correction notice was published in the Federal Register on July 6, 
2020. The repatriation and reburial of those human remains and 
associated funerary objects took place in August of 2018.)

Aboriginal Land

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
were removed from known geographic locations. These locations are the 
aboriginal lands of one or more Indian Tribes. The following 
information was used to identify the aboriginal land: a final judgment 
of the Indian Claims Commission or the United States Court of Claims 
and treaties.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes, the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, Nashville District has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of eight individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 15 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.
     No relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably 
traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects and 
any Indian Tribe.
     The human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice were removed from the aboriginal land of the 
Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and the United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

Requests for Disposition

    Written requests for disposition of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for disposition 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes 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, or who shows that the requestor is an aboriginal land 
Indian Tribe.
    Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after June 23, 
2023. If competing requests for disposition are received, the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, Nashville District must determine the most 
appropriate requestor prior to disposition. Requests for joint 
disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects are 
considered a single request and not competing requests. The U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, Nashville 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 and 
10.11.

    Dated: May 17, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-11017 Filed 5-23-23; 8:45 am]
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