Notice2025-14271
Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Division of Archaeology, Nashville, 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
July 29, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology (TDEC-DOA) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects from Maury County, Tennessee 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 143 (Tuesday, July 29, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 29, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35717-35718]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14271]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040604; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Department of
Environment and Conservation Division of Archaeology, Nashville, TN
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 Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation, Division of Archaeology (TDEC-DOA) has completed an
inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects from Maury
County, Tennessee 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.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after August 28, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Phillip R. Hodge,
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of
Archaeology, 1216 Foster Avenue, Cole Building #3, Nashville, TN 37243,
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#92c2fafbfebcdafdf6f5f7d2e6fcbcf5fde4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c292aaabaeec8aada6a5a782b6aceca5adb4">[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
TDEC-DOA, and additional information on the determinations in this
notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in its
inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, seven individuals have been
identified. The two associated funerary objects are two lots of
unsorted artifacts.
Site 40MU245, Maury County, TN
Human remains representing, at least, one individual. No
information is available regarding the collection or donation of these
materials. There is no known exposure to hazardous substances or
treatments.
Site 40MU260, Maury County, TN
Human remains representing, at least, three individuals. These
ancestral remains were excavated by a private consultant in 1999 under
a cemetery termination order from the Maury County Chancery Court, and
transferred to TDEC-DOA that same year. There is no known exposure to
hazardous substances or treatments.
Site 40MU528, Maury County, TN
Human remains representing, at least, three individuals. The two
associated funerary objects consist of two lots of unsorted artifacts
including lithics and gastropod shell. These materials were donated to
Division of Archaeology by the University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Archaeological Research Laboratory in 2003. The original circumstances
surrounding the collection of these materials is unknown.
There is no known exposure to hazardous substances or treatments.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains and associated
funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The TDEC-DOA has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of seven individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The two lots of artifacts described in this notice are
reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally 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 connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Absentee-
Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas;
Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee
Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe; The Chickasaw Nation; Thlopthlocco
Tribal Town; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in
Oklahoma.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
authorized representative identified in this notice under 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.
[[Page 35718]]
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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August
28, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the
TDEC-DOA 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 TDEC-DOA is responsible for sending a copy of
this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations
identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: July 9, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-14271 Filed 7-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 29, 2025.
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