2021-24052. Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has completed an inventory of associated funerary objects in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the TVA. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the associated funerary objects to the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES:

Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these 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 December 6, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Thomas O. Maher, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

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 associated funerary objects under the control of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Knoxville, TN. The associated funerary objects were removed from site 1MA4 in Madison 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) and 43 CFR 10.11(d). The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native American associated funerary objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

A detailed assessment of the associated funerary objects was made by TVA professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas [previously listed as Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas]; Cherokee Nation; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Poarch Band of Creek Indians [previously known as the Poarch Band of Creeks, and as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama]; The Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (hereafter referred to as “The Consulted Tribes”).

History and Description of the Remains

Site 1MA4 was excavated as part of TVA's Wheeler Reservoir Project by the Alabama Museum of Natural History (AMNH) at the University of Alabama using labor provided by the Civil Works Administration, a precursor to the Works Progress Administration. Details regarding the excavation of this site may be found in “ An Archaeological Survey of Wheeler Basin on the Tennessee River in Northern Alabama, ” by William S. Webb. The associated funerary objects excavated from the site listed in this notice have been in the physical custody of the AMNH at the University of Alabama since they were excavated. Human remains from site 1MA4 were listed in a Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2018 (83 FR 65729-65734, December 21, 2018), and they were subsequently transferred to the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. Recently, associated funerary objects from site 1MA4 were discovered during the improvement of the curation of TVA's archeological collection at AMNH.

From February through March 1934, associated funerary objects were removed from site 1MA4, in Madison County, AL, by AMNH. TVA acquired a strip of land around the periphery of Hobbs Island encompassing this site on May 23, 1939, as part of the Wheeler Reservoir project, but the excavation was conducted with Federal funds in anticipation of the inundation of this site. The site was a shell midden 300 x 125 feet located adjacent to the island's shoreline. There are no radiocarbon dates available for this site, but artifacts from a non-mortuary context suggest Langston (A.D. 900-1200) and Hobbs Island (A.D. 1200-1450) phase occupations. The 351 associated funerary objects include one conch shell cup, 23 Mississippi Plain body sherds, one limestone-tempered sherd, one Mulberry Creek cordmarked sherd, one Mulberry Creek Plain sherd, one Bluff Creek Simple Stamped rim, and 323 shell beads.

Determinations Made by the Tennessee Valley Authority

Officials of the Tennessee Valley Authority have determined that:

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 351 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.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian Tribe.
• According to final judgments of the Indian Claims Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, the land from which the associated funerary objects were removed is the aboriginal land of the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.
• The Treaty of September 20, 1816, indicates that the land from which the Native American human remains were removed is the aboriginal land of The Chickasaw Nation.
• Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(4), the Tennessee Valley Authority has agreed to transfer control of the associated funerary objects to the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (hereafter referred to as “The Tribes”).

Additional Requestors and Disposition

Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these associated funerary objects should submit a written request with information in support of the request to Dr. Thomas O. Maher, Tennessee Valley Authority, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT11C, Knoxville, TN 37902-1401, telephone [phone], email [e-mail], by December 6, 2021. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the associated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.

The Tennessee Valley Authority is responsible for notifying The Consulted Tribes that this notice has been published.

Dated: October 23, 2021.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.