81 FR 19628 - Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, Mobile, AL

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 65 (April 5, 2016)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the Mobile District. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 65 (Tuesday, April 5, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19628-19629]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07765]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-20509; 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: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District has 
completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes, and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian tribes 
or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives 
of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in 
this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human 
remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request 
to the Mobile District. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the lineal descendants, Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian 
organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the Mobile District at the address in this 
notice by May 5, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Mr. Michael Fedoroff, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile 
District, 109 St. Joseph Street, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001, 
telephone (251) 694-4114, email [email protected].

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 human remains and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the Mobile District. 
The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from the 
Burnt Village Site, 9TP9, Troup County, GA.
    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 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Mobile 
District in consultation with representatives of the following Indian 
tribes: Absentee-Shawnee Tribe Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta 
Tribe of Texas (previously listed as the Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of 
Texas; Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; Catawba Indian Nation (aka 
Catawba Tribe of South Carolina); Cherokee Nation; Chitimacha Tribe of 
Louisiana; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Jena Band of Choctaw 
Indians; Kialegee Tribal Town; Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; Mississippi 
Band of Choctaw Indians; Poarch Band of Creeks (previously listed as 
the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama); Shawnee Tribe; Seminole 
Tribe of Florida (previously listed as the Seminole Tribe of Florida 
(Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations)); The 
Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation; The Seminole of Oklahoma; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; Tunica-
Biloxi Indian Tribe; and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma, hereafter ``The Consulted Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1966 and 1968, human remains representing, at minimum, 21 
individuals were removed from the Burnt Village Site in Troup County, 
GA. The excavations were conducted by the University of Georgia, on 
behalf of the Mobile District's response to the construction of the 
West Point Lake reservoir. The human remains have been housed at the 
University of Georgia since their removal from the site, but are under 
the control of Mobile District. The human remains were determined to be 
Native American based on skeletal morphology, burial and site context, 
and artifact associations. No known individuals were identified during 
the excavations. The 5,281 associated funerary objects are 6 metal 
armbands, 37 metal bells, 5 copper bracelets, 64 metal buckles and 
fasteners, 34 metal buttons, 14 metal rings, 3 metal neckbands, 33 
metal cone ornaments, 31 metal ornaments, 33 metal tinklers, 5 metal 
fragments with beads, 4,067 beads (glass, shell, clay, seed), 11 lots 
of beads, 3 shell ornaments, 3 brass thimbles, 3 metal nails, 2 
fragments iron knife blade, 2 pieces horse bridle, 3 metal tools, 28 
pieces of metal/metal fragments, 2 ceramic balls/knobs, 2 ceramic 
bowls, 441 prehistoric ceramic sherds, 6 clay fragments, 27 pieces of 
daub, 14 lithic flakes or shatter, 2 lithic projectile points, 1 stone 
gaming piece, 4 pipe stems, 19 fragments of fabric, 2 fragments of 
fabric with beads, 10 pieces of cord, thread, or string, 1 mirror 
fragment, 3 glass fragments, 1 glass bottle, 1 cork, 7 musket balls, 9 
gun flints, 6 pieces unmodified shell,1 lot modified mica, 1 piece 
mica, 172 pieces unmodified fauna, 1 piece modified fauna, 24 fire 
cracked rock, 89 rocks, 4 samples of botanical remains, 1 piece 
sandstone, 29 pieces of organic material (e.g., botanicals and wood), 6 
pieces of charcoal, 2 pieces red ochre, and 6 samples of charcoal and 
soil.
    Eight lines of evidence support a cultural affiliation finding for 
the Burnt Village Site including geographical, archeological, 
anthropological, linguistic, folklore, oral tradition, historical, and 
expert opinion. Geographically, the Burnt Village site is the location 
of the historically known Creek Town of Okfuskeneena. The site is 
located within established Creek Indian territory on the western bank 
of the central Chattahoochee River in Troup County, Georgia. This area 
is both within treaty designated Creek lands, and land known through 
historic and ethnographic accounts as being home to the Creek Indians. 
Archeological investigations of the site confirmed historical accounts 
of the village location, which was recorded as being attacked on 
September 27, 1793, by white settlers. Evidence includes diagnostic 
artifacts that correspond to those expected and described in

[[Page 19629]]

historical accounts. Anthropological examination of the physical human 
remains also reflects expected physical characteristics, trauma, and 
injuries as described in the historical accounts. Linguistic and 
folkloric evidence for settlements in the area reflect a Creek 
occupation of the central Chattahoochee River Valley, including the 
area of the Burnt Village site.
    Historic accounts indicate that the survivors of Creek Town of 
Okfuskeneena fled and were welcomed into neighboring Creek polities, 
which eventually became part of the Creek Confederations. Oral 
tradition provided by tribal members further clarify that the 
descendents of the Town of Okfuskeneena currently reside within, and 
are part of, The Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Determinations Made by the Mobile District

    Officials of the Mobile District have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 21 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 5,281 associated 
funerary objects 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.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation.

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 human remains and funerary objects should submit a written 
request with information in support of the request to Mr. Michael 
Fedoroff, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, 109 St. Joseph 
Street, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, Alabama 36628-0001, telephone (251) 694-
4114, email [email protected], by May 5, 2016. After 
that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to The 
Muscogee (Creek) Nation may proceed.
    The Mobile District is responsible for notifying The Consulted 
Tribes that this notice has published.

    Dated: March 3, 2016.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2016-07765 Filed 4-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-50-P