Notice2022-12109
Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 6, 2022
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present- day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 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 TVA. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 108 (Monday, June 6, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 108 (Monday, June 6, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34296-34297]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-12109]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0033983; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Valley Authority,
Knoxville, TN
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has completed an
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation
between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-
day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 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 TVA. If no additional requestors come forward,
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary
objects to the 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
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 TVA at the address in this notice by July
6, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Marianne Shuler, Tennessee Valley
Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401,
telephone (865) 253-1265, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#177a7a647f627b72655763617639707861"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="97fafae4ffe2fbf2e5d7e3e1f6b9f0f8e1">[email protected]</span></a>.
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 completion of an inventory of human remains and
associated funerary objects under the control of the Tennessee Valley
Authority, Knoxville, TN. The human remains and associated funerary
objects were removed from site 1LU496, Dust Cave, in Lauderdale County,
AL.
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.
Consultation
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by TVA
professional
[[Page 34297]]
staff in consultation with representatives of the Cherokee Nation;
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw
Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Seminole Nation of
Oklahoma; and the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town (hereafter referred to as
``The Consulted Tribes'').
History and Description of the Remains
Dust Cave (site 1LU496) is located on a bluff adjacent to the right
descending bank of the Tennessee River within TVA's Pickwick Reservoir,
in Lauderdale County, Alabama. The cave was recorded in the 1980s by
Richard Cobb following exploration by local speleologists. A subsequent
evaluation of caves adjacent to Pickwick Reservoir verified that Dust
Cave had a human habitation of considerable antiquity. From 1989 to
2002, Dust Cave was the focus of excavations by the University of
Alabama. The cultural items listed in this notice were excavated prior
to November 16, 1990.
Between 1989 and November of 1990, human remains representing, at
minimum, 29 individuals were removed from Dust Cave, site 1LU496, in
Lauderdale County, AL, during excavations conducted by the University
of Alabama. The principal investigator, Boyce Driskel, in a report to
the National Science Foundation, wrote that the site contains five
discrete prehistoric components, including ``a Late Paleoindian
component with estimated age of 10,500 B.P. to 10,000 B.P.; an Early
Side Notched component with an estimated age of 10,000 B.P. to 9,000
B.P; a Kirk Stemmed component with an estimated age of 8,500 B.P. to
7,000 B.P.; an Eva/Morrow Mountain component with estimated age of
7,000 B.P. to 6,000 B.P.; and a Seven Mile Island phase component with
estimated age of 6,000 B.P. to 5,200 B.P.'' The human remains belong to
17 adults of unknown sex and 12 subadults of unknown. No individuals
were identified. The three associated funerary objects are one lot of
shell beads, one lot of ground stone, and one lot of sediment samples.
Based on archeological, geographical, and oral traditional
information, the TVA has determined that the earlier group to which
these human remains belonged are ancestral to the Cherokee Nation,
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and The Chickasaw Nation.
Determinations Made by the Tennessee Valley Authority
Officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority have determined that:
<bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described
in this notice are Native American based on their presence in a
prehistoric archeological site and osteological analysis.
<bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described
in this notice represent the physical remains of 29 individuals of
Native American ancestry.
<bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the three 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.
<bullet> 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 associated funerary objects and the Cherokee
Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and The Chickasaw Nation
(hereafter referred to as ``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
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 Ms. Marianne Shuler, Tennessee Valley
Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401,
telephone (865) 253-1265, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#127f7f617a677e7760526664733c757d64"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="157878667d60797067556163743b727a63">[email protected]</span></a>, by July 6, 2022.
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward,
transfer of control of the human remains, associated funerary objects
and sacred objects to The Tribes may proceed.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The
Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.
Dated: May 25, 2022.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2022-12109 Filed 6-3-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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