Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN, 7410-7411 [2021-01903]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7410-7411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01903]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0031391; 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, TVA, 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

    From May 21 to July 28, 1937, 1,644 cultural items were removed 
from historic Native American burials at site 1MS32, on McKee Island, 
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 1,644 unassociated funerary objects are two 
black glass beads and 1,642 blue glass beads.
    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, Jon Marcoux's study of glass beads 
from 1MS32 indicates a historic occupation in the range of A.D. 1650-
1750. Analysis of the brass bells recovered from this site suggests an 
occupation range from the late 1600s through the 1700s. During this 
period multiple tribes were using the Guntersville Reservoir area. 
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.
    Both British and American historians indicate that in the 1700s, 
some Cherokee were leaving their traditional tribal lands in the 
Appalachian Mountains and the Little Tennessee River watershed. In the 
1770s, a group of Cherokee, often designated as the Chickamauga in 
historical documents, had relocated to areas northeast of the current 
city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Reprisals by American militia for 
Cherokee support of the British during the American Revolution forced 
these Cherokee farther down the Tennessee River. By 1785-1790 there 
were named Cherokee villages in the Guntersville Reservoir area. The 
Koasati, Muscogee (Creek), and Cherokee all hunted in the Tennessee 
Valley. Based on the totality of the evidence, TVA has determined that 
the cultural items from historic burials at 1MS32 are culturally 
affiliated with Native American descendants of the Koasati/Kaskinampo 
or the Cherokee. These descendants include the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe 
of Texas (previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); 
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Cherokee Nation; Coushatta Tribe of 
Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

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 1,644 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 specific burial sites of Native 
American individuals.
     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-Quassarte Tribal 
Town; Cherokee Nation; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of 
Cherokee Indians; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; and the United Keetoowah 
Band of Cherokee

[[Page 7411]]

Indians in Oklahoma (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. 2021-01903 Filed 1-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P