Notice2023-09476
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Savannah, GA
Primary source
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Published
May 4, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, 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. The cultural items were removed from Columbia County, GA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 86 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 86 (Thursday, May 4, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28607-28608]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09476]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035772; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, Savannah District, Savannah, GA
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, Savannah
District, 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. The cultural items were removed from Columbia County, GA.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after June 5, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Mr. Rodney Parker, Regulatory Archeologist and District
Tribal Liaison, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, 100 W
Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, GA 31401, telephone (912) 652-5964, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7a28151e141f03543e542a1b08111f083a0f091b191f541b08170354171316"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="33615c575d564a1d771d6352415856417346405250561d52415e4a1d5e5a5f">[email protected]</span></a>.
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, Savannah District. The National Park
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including
the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or related
records held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District.
Description
Thirteen cultural items were removed from Columbia County, GA.
Between 1948-1951, the National Park Service's River Basin Survey
conducted archeological investigations at the Lake Springs Village site
(9CB22), which is located within the former Clark's Hill Lake, today,
Thurmond Lake. Subsequent excavations were conducted at this site by
the Smithsonian Institution on behalf of the Savannah District in
response to the imminent construction of Thurmond Lake. (Additional
cultural objects and human remains removed from this site are housed at
the Smithsonian Institution and are under its control.) The 13
unassociated funerary objects are two incised bone pendants, four
worked bone fragments, two incised bones, one atlatl fragment/weight,
one bear tooth pendant, two ceramic polishing stones, and one undrilled
soapstone atlatl weight.
Cultural Affiliation
The cultural items in this notice are connected to one or more
identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a
relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier
groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or
Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were
used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological,
archeological, biological, geographical, historical, other relevant
information, and expert opinion.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, has
determined that:
<bullet> The 13 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.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and The Muscogee
(Creek) Nation.
Requests for Repatriation
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in
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.
[[Page 28608]]
Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to a requestor
may occur on or after June 5, 2023. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah
District, 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 U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, is responsible for sending a
copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, Sec.
10.10, and Sec. 10.14.
Dated: April 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-09476 Filed 5-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 4, 2023.
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