Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN, 7408-7409 [2021-01898]

Download as PDF 7408 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 17 / Thursday, January 28, 2021 / Notices • Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native American human remains and the Seneca Nation of Indians (previously listed as Seneca Nation of New York). Additional Requestors and Disposition Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a written request with information in support of the request to Kerry Lippincott, Geneva Historical Society, 543 South Main Street, Geneva, NY 14456, telephone (315) 789–5151, email director@genevahistoricalsociety.com, by March 1, 2021. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the Seneca Nation of Indians (previously listed as Seneca Nation of New York) may proceed. The Geneva Historical Society is responsible for notifying the Seneca Nation of Indians (previously listed as Seneca Nation of New York) that this notice has been published. Dated: January 14, 2021. Melanie O’Brien, Manager, National NAGPRA Program. [FR Doc. 2021–01897 Filed 1–27–21; 8:45 am] DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service [NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–NPS0031390; PPWOCRADN0–PCU00RP14.R50000] Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request to the TVA. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:16 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 253001 On June 25, 1937, 47 cultural items were removed from burial 15 at 1MS32, the McKee Island site, in Marshall County, AL. The McKee Island site was excavated as part of TVA’s Guntersville Reservoir project by the Alabama Museum of Natural History (AMNH) at the University of Alabama, using labor and funds provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Details regarding these excavations may be found in ‘‘An Archaeological Survey of Guntersville Basin on the Tennessee River in Northern Alabama,’’ by William S. Webb and Charles G. Wilder. TVA acquired the site on November 12, 1936. The 47 unassociated funerary objects are sherds of a Mississippi Plain vessel. Determinations Made by the Tennessee Valley Authority Officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority have determined that: • Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 47 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. • Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), these items are culturally affiliated with the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously listed as the AlabamaCoushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama- Consultation BILLING CODE 4312–52–P SUMMARY: History and Description of the Cultural Items Site 1MS32 was a midden-rich village that extended 800 feet along a ridge of the now-inundated McKee Island. Although there are no radiocarbon dates from this site, ceramics recovered from 1MS32 indicate occupations during the Colbert (300 B.C.–A.D. 100), Flint River (A.D. 500–1000), and Crow Creek (A.D. 1500–1650) phases. Burial 15 is from the Mississippian Crow Creek phase. Chronicles from Spanish explorers of the 16th century and French explorers of the 17th and 18th century indicate the presence of chiefdom-level tribal entities in the southeastern United States that resemble the historic Native American chiefdoms. Linguistic analysis of place names noted by multiple Spanish explorers indicates that Koasati-speaking Muskogean groups inhabited northeastern Alabama. Early maps and research into the historic Native American occupation of northeastern Alabama indicate that the Koasati (as called by the English) or the Kaskinampo (as called by the French) were found at multiple sites in Jackson and Marshall Counties in the 17th and 18th centuries. Oral history, traditions, and expert opinions of Koasati/ Kaskinampo and Muscogee (Creek) descendants indicate that this portion of the Tennessee River valley was their tribal homeland. Oral tradition also indicates that by the middle 1700s, the Koasati/Kaskinampo were leaving the Tennessee River valley and moving south. Based on the totality of the evidence, TVA has determined that the items from the Mississippian burials at 1MS32 are culturally affiliated with descendants of the Koasati/Kaskinampo. These descendants include the AlabamaCoushatta Tribe of Texas (previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request with information in support of the claim to the TVA at the address in this notice by March 1, 2021. ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas O. Maher, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 37902–1401, telephone (865) 632– 7458, email tomaher@tva.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the control of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN, that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001. This notice is published as part of the National Park Service’s administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. DATES: A detailed assessment of the unassociated funerary objects was made by TVA professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Cherokee Nation; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Shawnee Tribe; The Chickasaw Nation; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (hereafter referred to as ‘‘The Consulted Tribes’’). PO 00000 Frm 00056 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\28JAN1.SGM 28JAN1 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 17 / Thursday, January 28, 2021 / Notices Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation (hereafter referred to as ‘‘The Tribes’’). • Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3005(a)(2), repatriation of these cultural items may be to The Tribes. Additional Requestors and Disposition Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request with information in support of the claim to Dr. Thomas O. Maher, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 37902–1401, telephone (865) 632–7458, email tomaher@tva.gov, by March 1, 2021. After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed. The Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The Tribes and The Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published. Dated: January 14, 2021. Melanie O’Brien, Manager, National NAGPRA Program. [FR Doc. 2021–01898 Filed 1–27–21; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4312–52–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service [NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–NPS0031392; PPWOCRADN0–PCU00RP14.R50000] Notice of Inventory Completion: Indiana University, Bloomington, IN; Correction National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice; correction. AGENCY: Indiana University has corrected an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, published in a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register on December 2, 2016. This notice corrects the minimum number of individuals and the number of associated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the Indiana University NAGPRA Office. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:16 Jan 27, 2021 Jkt 253001 organizations stated in this notice may proceed. DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request with information in support of the request to the Indiana University NAGPRA Office at the address in this notice by March 1, 2021. ADDRESSES: Dr. Jayne-Leigh Thomas, NAGPRA Director, Indiana University, NAGPRA Office, Student Building 318, 701 E. Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, telephone (812) 856–5315, email thomajay@indiana.edu. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the correction of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects under the control of Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from North Dakota. This notice is published as part of the National Park Service’s administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. This notice corrects the minimum number of individuals and number of associated funerary objects published in a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register (81 FR 87064–87065, December 2, 2016). The correction is being made due to a reassessment of the human remains and the discovery of additional human remains and funerary objects. Transfer of control of the items in this correction notice has not occurred. Correction In the Federal Register (81 FR 87064, December, 2, 2016), column 2, paragraph 4, sentence 2 is corrected by substituting the following sentence: Human remains, representing a minimum of 69 individuals, were recovered from this site. In the Federal Register (81 FR 87064, December 2, 2016), column 2, paragraph 5, sentence 4 is corrected by substituting the following sentence: Human remains, representing a minimum of 35 individuals, were recovered. PO 00000 Frm 00057 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 7409 In the Federal Register (81 FR 87064, December 2, 2016}), column 2, paragraph 5, sentence 6 is corrected by substituting the following sentence: The 11 associated funerary objects are 10 blue glass beads and one mammal bone. In the Federal Register (81 FR 87064, December 2, 2016}), column 3, paragraph 3, inserting the following sentences at the end of the paragraph: Notes indicate that this collection is likely from North Dakota, with ID designations of Ar-34, Ar-3, and Ar-37. Four of these individuals are specifically labeled ‘Arikara’ or ‘Mandan’. It is interpreted that the ‘Ar’ is indicative of ‘Arikara’. In the Federal Register (81 FR 87064, December 2, 2016), column 3, paragraph 4, the following sentences are added to the beginning of the paragraph: Found with these collections were four additional boxes containing human remains representing four individuals. Three of the boxes were labeled as ‘Arikara’ and the fourth was labeled ‘Ar-6’, which is interpreted as ‘Arikara’. In the Federal Register (81 FR 87065, December 2, 2016), column 1, paragraph 1, sentence 1 is corrected by substituting the following sentence: Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 157 individuals of Native American ancestry. In the Federal Register (81 FR 87065, December 2, 2016), column 1, paragraph 1, sentence 2 is corrected by substituting the following sentence: Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 94 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. Additional Requestors and Disposition Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request with information in support of the request to Dr. Jayne-Leigh Thomas, NAGPRA Director, Indiana University, NAGPRA Office, Student Building 318, 701 E Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47405, telephone (812) 856–5315, email thomajay@indiana.edu, by March 1, 2021. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota may proceed. Indiana University is responsible for notifying the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota that this notice has been published. E:\FR\FM\28JAN1.SGM 28JAN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7408-7409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01898]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0031390; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Tennessee Valley 
Authority, Knoxville, TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has 
determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or 
representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items 
should submit a written request to the TVA. If no additional claimants 
come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items to the lineal 
descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in 
this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
claim these cultural items should submit a written request with 
information in support of the claim to the TVA at the address in this 
notice by March 1, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Thomas O. Maher, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West 
Summit Hill Drive, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone (865) 
632-7458, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN, that meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the unassociated funerary objects was made 
by TVA professional staff in consultation with representatives of the 
Cherokee Nation; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; Shawnee Tribe; The Chickasaw Nation; and The Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation (hereafter referred to as ``The Consulted Tribes'').

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    On June 25, 1937, 47 cultural items were removed from burial 15 at 
1MS32, the McKee Island site, in Marshall County, AL. The McKee Island 
site was excavated as part of TVA's Guntersville Reservoir project by 
the Alabama Museum of Natural History (AMNH) at the University of 
Alabama, using labor and funds provided by the Works Progress 
Administration (WPA). Details regarding these excavations may be found 
in ``An Archaeological Survey of Guntersville Basin on the Tennessee 
River in Northern Alabama,'' by William S. Webb and Charles G. Wilder. 
TVA acquired the site on November 12, 1936. The 47 unassociated 
funerary objects are sherds of a Mississippi Plain vessel.
    Site 1MS32 was a midden-rich village that extended 800 feet along a 
ridge of the now-inundated McKee Island. Although there are no 
radiocarbon dates from this site, ceramics recovered from 1MS32 
indicate occupations during the Colbert (300 B.C.-A.D. 100), Flint 
River (A.D. 500-1000), and Crow Creek (A.D. 1500-1650) phases. Burial 
15 is from the Mississippian Crow Creek phase. Chronicles from Spanish 
explorers of the 16th century and French explorers of the 17th and 18th 
century indicate the presence of chiefdom-level tribal entities in the 
southeastern United States that resemble the historic Native American 
chiefdoms. Linguistic analysis of place names noted by multiple Spanish 
explorers indicates that Koasati-speaking Muskogean groups inhabited 
northeastern Alabama. Early maps and research into the historic Native 
American occupation of northeastern Alabama indicate that the Koasati 
(as called by the English) or the Kaskinampo (as called by the French) 
were found at multiple sites in Jackson and Marshall Counties in the 
17th and 18th centuries. Oral history, traditions, and expert opinions 
of Koasati/Kaskinampo and Muscogee (Creek) descendants indicate that 
this portion of the Tennessee River valley was their tribal homeland. 
Oral tradition also indicates that by the middle 1700s, the Koasati/
Kaskinampo were leaving the Tennessee River valley and moving south.
    Based on the totality of the evidence, TVA has determined that the 
items from the Mississippian burials at 1MS32 are culturally affiliated 
with descendants of the Koasati/Kaskinampo. These descendants include 
the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously listed as the Alabama-
Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta 
Tribe of Louisiana; and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Determinations Made by the Tennessee Valley Authority

    Officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 47 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.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), these items are culturally 
affiliated with the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously listed 
as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-

[[Page 7409]]

Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3005(a)(2), repatriation of these 
cultural items may be to The Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim 
these cultural items should submit a written request with information 
in support of the claim to Dr. Thomas O. Maher, Tennessee Valley 
Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, 
telephone (865) 632-7458, email [email protected], by March 1, 2021. 
After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer 
of control of the unassociated funerary objects to The Tribes may 
proceed.
    The Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The 
Tribes and The Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 14, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-01898 Filed 1-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P

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