2011-4. Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS, that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.

This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the Superintendent, Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS.

In 1951, unassociated funerary objects were removed from the Mangum site, Claiborne County, MS, during authorized National Park Service survey and excavation projects. The whereabouts of the human remains is unknown. The 34 unassociated funerary objects are 6 ceramic vessel fragments, 1 ceramic jar, 4 projectile points, 6 shell ornaments, 2 shells, 1 stone tool, 1 stone artifact, 1 polished stone, 2 pieces of petrified wood, 2 bone artifacts, 1 worked antler, 2 discoidals, 3 cupreous metal fragments and 2 soil/shell samples. The Mangum site is a large hilltop cemetery located in Claiborne County, MS. Objects recovered from the burials indicate that the site was in use during the Mississippian period (A.D. 1000-1650). In 1540, the De Soto expedition likely encountered the Taensa people in the vicinity of the Mangum site. In 1682, the de La Salle expedition documented the Taensa and Tunica in the same area. In 1706, the Taensa were driven from the area, migrating first to Bayogula, and then to Mobile, where they may have settled with the Choctaw. In 1764, the Taensa again moved, first to the Red River in south Louisiana, and finally to the Bayou Boeuf area where they lived with the Chitimacha. Representatives of the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana have identified similarities between the burial practices observed at the Mangum site and those of the Chitimacha. Historical documentation also indicates that the Tunica buried individuals in hilltop cemeteries in open country, matching the burial practice observed on the Mangum site. Historical documentation indicates that some Taensa may have married into the Alabama tribe, the descendants of whom now constitute the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas and the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma.

Officials of Natchez Trace Parkway have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), that the 34 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. Officials of Natchez Trace Parkway also have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), that there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the unassociated funerary objects and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Louisiana; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi; and Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana.

Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary objects should contact Cameron H. Sholly, Superintendent, Natchez Trace Parkway, 2680 Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS 38803, telephone [phone], before February 7, 2011. Repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects to the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Louisiana; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi; and Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana, may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.

Natchez Trace Parkway is responsible for notifying the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma; Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma; Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Louisiana; Kialegee Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi; Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma; Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama; Seminole Nation of Oklahoma; Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations); Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma; Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana; and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, that this notice has been published.

Dated: December 28, 2010.

Sangita Chari,

Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.