[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 58 (Thursday, March 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Page 13871]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-05227]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039774; 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.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after April 28, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Ms. Emily Demontalvo, 109 St. Joseph Street, P.O. Box 2288, 
Mobile, AL 36628-0001, telephone (251) 690-3227, 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, and additional 
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results 
of consultation, can be found in its inventory or related records. The 
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this 
notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Human remains representing, at least, five individuals have been 
identified. The 20 associated funerary objects are three pieces of 
mica, two pieces of quartz, one stone axe, two ear spools, three shell 
beads, one unmodified rock, one piece of carved wood, one charcoal, one 
lot of flakes, one piece of fabric, three matrix samples, and one 
projectile point. The Park Mound Site (9TP41) is a multicomponent site 
with Early Archaic and Late Mississippian occupations. The mound was 
surveyed by Harold Huscher in 1967 and again in 1968 as part of the 
Smithsonian Institution's River Basin Survey program. Huscher conducted 
excavations at Park Mound in 1969 and again in 1972 and 1973. The human 
remains and associated funerary objects have been at the University of 
Georgia since their excavation.
    Human remains representing, at least, 36 individuals have been 
identified. The 178 associated funerary objects are 37 lots of faunal 
remains, 14 fire cracked rock, 72 lots of potsherds, five charcoal, 
eight lots of shell beads, one possible coprolite, three sandstone, 16 
lots of soil matrix, two bone needles, two lots of shell, six 
unmodified rocks, one flake, two ceramic bowls, one partially 
reconstructed bowl, two ear spools, one ceramic vessel, two bone tools, 
one fossil, one piece of copper, and one soil sample. Avery Mound 
(9TP64) is an Early to Late Mississippian mound site. Harold Huscher 
conducted preliminary investigations at Avery Mound in 1966 as part of 
the Smithsonian's River Basin Survey program and returned in 1967 and 
excavated a number of test units which identified a number of postholes 
and probable burial pits. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects have been at the University of Georgia since their excavation.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available 
about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in 
this notice.

Determinations

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, has determined 
that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 41 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 198 objects described in this notice are reasonably 
believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual 
human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite 
or ceremony.
     There is a connection 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 
authorized representative identified in this notice under 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with 
cultural affiliation.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after April 28, 
2025. 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 and Native Hawaiian organizations 
identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: March 17, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-05227 Filed 3-26-25; 8:45 am]
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