[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 63978]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17255]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038393; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: South Carolina Institute of 
Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, 
SC

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 South Carolina Institute of Archaeology 
and Anthropology (SCIAA) intends to repatriate certain cultural items 
that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and that have 
a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations in this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after September 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Nina Schreiner, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and 
Anthropology (SCIAA), College of Arts and Sciences, University of South 
Carolina, 1321 Pendleton Street, Columbia, SC 29208, 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 
SCIAA, and additional information on the determinations in this notice, 
including the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or 
related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    A total of one cultural item has been requested for repatriation. 
The one unassociated funerary object is one lot of beads. The beads 
were removed from the Tomassee site (38OC186) by Marshall Williams at 
an unknown date and brought to the University of Georgia Laboratory of 
Archaeology (UGA) at an unknown date. UGA transferred the beads to 
SCIAA in 2024 to facilitate repatriation. SCIAA has no knowledge of 
hazardous substances used to treat the cultural items. Tomassee is an 
eighteenth-century Cherokee town in Oconee County, SC.

Determinations

    The SCIAA has determined that:
     The one unassociated funerary object described in this 
notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with 
or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death 
or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American 
culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a 
lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The 
unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance 
of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or 
families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an 
individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe 
or Native Hawaiian organization.
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural 
items described in this notice and the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of 
Cherokee Indians; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified 
in this notice under 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 September 5, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the {1. SCIAA{time}  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 {1. SCIAA{time}  is responsible for sending 
a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice and to any other consulting 
parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

    Dated: July 25, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-17255 Filed 8-5-24; 8:45 am]
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