Notice2023-09580
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Mobile, AL
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
May 5, 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, 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. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Itawamba and Tishomingo Counties, MS.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 87 (Friday, May 5, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 87 (Friday, May 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29163-29164]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09580]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035776; 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. The
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from
Itawamba and Tishomingo Counties, MS.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after June 5, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Ms. Alexandria Smith, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile
District, 109 St. Joseph Street, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001,
telephone (251) 690-2728, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a8e9c4cdd0c9c6ccdac1c986e686fbc5c1dcc0e8dddbc9cbcd86c9dac5d186c5c1c4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d697bab3aeb7b8b2a4bfb7f898f885bbbfa2be96a3a5b7b5b3f8b7a4bbaff8bbbfba">[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, Mobile 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 inventory or related
records held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District.
Description
Human remains representing, at minimum, 26 individuals were removed
from Itawamba County, MS. The White Springs site (22IT537) was
originally recorded by Joseph Caldwell and S.D. Lewis in 1971, during a
survey of the Canal Section of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. The
site was identified as a 15-20-acre village. Archeological phases
identified at the site include Early Archaic, Gulf Formational, Middle
and Late Woodland, and Mississippian. Testing excavations were
conducted in April of 1971, and full-scale excavation was conducted
between July and August of the same year by the University of Southern
Mississippi. The age and sex of these individuals are unidentified. No
known individuals were identified. The 240 associated funerary objects
are 51 lots consisting of ceramics, 53 lots consisting of lithics, 22
lots consisting of projectile points, 23 lots consisting of faunal
remains, eight lots consisting of shells, 38 lots consisting of soil
samples, 16 lots consisting of float samples, three lots consisting of
fire cracked rock, one lot consisting of stone fragments, two lots
consisting of preforms, five lots consisting of sandstone, four lots
consisting of pebbles, four lots consisting of burial fill, three lots
consisting of petrified wood, three lots consisting of ferrous
sandstone, one lot consisting of scrapers, and three lots consisting of
charcoal.
Human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were
removed from Itawamba County, MS. In November of 1971, Joseph Caldwell
and S.D. Lewis identified the Walnut site (22IT539), located in a
floodplain near the confluence of Mackeys and Big Brown Creeks and
within the operational boundaries of the Canal Section of the
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. This site has been described as a village
measuring 100 feet-by-150 feet on a rise in swamp and low forest.
According to the site form, the Walnut site had been looted and partly
cleared for a powerline. Archeological phases associated with the site
include Middle Archaic, Late Archaic, Middle Gulf Formational, and
Woodland. The age and sex of these individuals are unidentified. No
known individuals were identified. The nine associated funerary objects
are one lot consisting of beads, one lot consisting of lithics, one lot
consisting of daub, three lots consisting of perpetuity samples, one
lot consisting of charcoal, one lot consisting of unmodified cobbles,
and one lot consisting of clay.
Human remains representing, at minimum, 10 individuals were removed
from Itawamba County, MS. In 1975, the Poplar site (22IT576) was
recorded by J.R. Atkinson in the Canal Section of the Tennessee-
Tombigbee Waterway. Atkinson described the site as a circular Woodland
midden mound with black soil approximately one-half acre in size. The
University of Alabama conducted archeological testing at the site in
1979 and full-scale excavations in 1980. Poplar is a multi-component
site with Paleoindian, Archaic, and Woodland components. The age and
sex of these individuals are unidentified. No known individuals were
identified. The 64 associated funerary objects are one lot consisting
of ceramic, 21 lots consisting of lithics, nine lots consisting of
faunal remains, nine lots consisting of ferrous sandstone, two lots
consisting of projectile points, eight lots consisting of flotation
samples, two lots consisting of pebbles, two lots consisting of soil
samples, three lots consisting of clay, three lots consisting of pollen
samples, one lot consisting of petrified wood, two lots consisting of
biosilicate samples, and one lot consisting of groundstone fragments.
Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were
removed from Tishomingo County, MS. The W.C. Mann Site (22TS565) is a
Middle/Late Archaic site located in the Divide Cut Section of the
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway. The Department of Anthropology of Memphis
State University excavated the site from October of 1977 to May of
1978, under principal investigator Drexel A.
[[Page 29164]]
Peterson, Jr., and field director William McKinney. The age and sex of
these individuals are unidentified. No known individuals were
identified. The 63 associated funerary objects are three lots
consisting of ceramics, 26 lots consisting of lithics, two lots
consisting of faunal remains, one lot consisting of cobbles, eight lots
consisting of miscellaneous stones, one lot consisting of limonite
fragments, two lots consisting of soil samples, two lots consisting of
flotation samples, one lot consisting of daub, three lots consisting of
clay, two lots consisting of stone cores, three lots consisting of
projectile points, four lots consisting of sandstone, three lots
consisting of fire cracked rock, one lot consisting of red ochre, and
one lot consisting of abraders.
Human remains representing, at a minimum, five individuals were
removed from Tishomingo County, MS. Site 22TS956, also referred to as
``the'' Bay Springs Rockshelter, is just one of several rockshelters
situated along the Divide Cut Section of the Tennessee-Tombigbee
Waterway. These sites were excavated in several stages by the Cultural
Resource Program of the Department of Anthropology at the University of
Pittsburgh under the direction of Principal Investigator J.M. Adovasio
(October 1-13, 1979; October 16-November 23, 1979; December 3, 1979-
February 25, 1980; and February 26-June 3, 1980). The age and sex of
these individuals are unidentified. No known individuals were
identified. The three associated funerary objects are two lots
consisting of soil samples and one lot consisting of dense stone
fragments.
Cultural Affiliation
The human remains and associated funerary objects 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: archeological, 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, Mobile District has
determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 49 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 379 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> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary
objects described in this notice and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of
Texas; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; and
The Chickasaw Nation.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
Responsible Official identified in 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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
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, 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 identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10,
and 10.14.
Dated: April 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-09580 Filed 5-4-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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