Notice2025-14275
Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, Nashville, TN
Primary source
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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 Franklin, Giles, Lawrence, and Williamson Counties, 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 35715-35716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14275]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6361; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040608; 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
Franklin, Giles, Lawrence, and Williamson Counties, 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 (TDEC-DOA), 1216 Foster Avenue, Cole Building #3,
Nashville, TN 37243, telephone (615) 626-2025, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0f5f6766632147606b686a4f7b6121686079"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="55053d3c397b1d3a31323015213b7b323a23">[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, 15 individuals have been
identified. The 12 associated funerary objects are one partial ceramic
vessel, four faunal remains, six lithic bifaces, and one lot of faunal
material.
Unknown Site, Franklin County, TN
Human remains representing, at least, one individual. These
ancestral remains were donated to TDEC-DOA in 2022 by faculty of
Sewanee, The University of the South. No provenience data is known
other than a notation that they are from the ``Yeatman collection.'' No
additional information is available regarding the circumstances of
collection or location of origin. There is no known exposure to
hazardous substances or treatments.
Site 40GL68, Giles County, TN
Human remains representing, at least, four individuals. The four
associated funerary objects are four faunal remains. These ancestral
remains were donated to TDEC-DOA by faculty of East Carolina State
University. No information is available regarding the collection or
donation of these materials. There is no known exposure to hazardous
substances or treatments.
Unknown Site, Lawrence County, TN
Human remains representing, at least, two individuals. The seven
associated funerary objects consist of six lithic bifaces and one lot
of faunal material. These materials were seized in a raid by the City
of Loretto police department and donated to TDEC-DOA in 2006. No other
information is available regarding their original location or the
circumstances of collection. There is no known exposure to hazardous
substances or treatments.
Site 40WM255, Williamson County, TN
Human remains representing, at least, one individual. The one
associated funerary object consists of a partial Mississippian period
ceramic jar. These materials were excavated by a private consultant in
1998 or 1999, and seized by TDEC-DOA from a storage locker in December
2009. There is no known exposure to hazardous substances or treatments.
Site 40WM342, Williamson County, TN
Human remains representing, at least, one individual. No
information is available regarding the acquisition of these remans.
There is no known exposure to hazardous substances or treatments.
[[Page 35716]]
Unknown Sites, Williamson County, TN
Human remains of at least one individual from the collection of the
Tennessee State Museum were excavated by a private individual from a
stone box grave in Brentwood, Tennessee and transferred to the TDEC-DOA
in 1995.
Human remains of at least one individual were found in an estate
collection and donated to TDEC-DOA. According to the donor, they were
collected along the Harpeth River in Williamson County.
Human remains of at least two individuals were excavated by a
private individual in the 1930s and donated to TDEC-DOA by the next of
kin.
Human remains of at least two individuals were donated to TDEC-DOA
with information on the box indicating that they were removed along the
Harpeth River, in Williamson County, Tennessee. No record exists as to
the timing, donor, or circumstances of acquisition. 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 15 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 12 objects 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; Poarch Band of Creek Indians; Shawnee Tribe; The
Chickasaw Nation; The Muscogee (Creek) 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.
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. 2025-14275 Filed 7-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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