82 FR 11618 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 36 (February 24, 2017)

Vanderbilt University has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects in consultation with the appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and 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 human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to Vanderbilt University. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 36 (Friday, February 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11618-11619]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03612]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-0022767; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, 
TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Vanderbilt University has completed an inventory of human 
remains and associated funerary objects in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has 
determined that there is no cultural affiliation between the human 
remains and 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 human remains and 
associated funerary objects should submit a written request to 
Vanderbilt University. If no additional requestors come forward,

[[Page 11619]]

transfer of control of the human remains and 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 human remains and associated funerary 
objects should submit a written request with information in support of 
the request to Vanderbilt University at the address in this notice by 
March 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Arrin Richards, Assistant General Counsel, Vanderbilt 
University, 2100 West End Avenue, Suite 750, Nashville, TN 37203, 
telephone (615) 322-5157, 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 Vanderbilt 
University. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from the Arnold Village site in Brentwood, Williamson County, 
TN.
    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 human remains and associated funerary 
objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed inventory of the human remains was made by Vanderbilt 
University Associate Professor of Anthropology, Tiffiny A. Tung. An 
assessment of the human remains was made in consultation with Professor 
Tiffiny Tung, Professor Beth Conklin (Chair of the Department of 
Anthropology), Arrin Richards (Vanderbilt University Counsel), and 
representatives of the Cherokee Nation, Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians, The Chickasaw Nation, The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, The 
Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians 
in Oklahoma.

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1966 and 1967, human remains representing, at minimum, 208 
individuals were removed from the Arnold Village site in Williamson 
County, TN. The Southeastern Indian Antiquities Survey Inc. (SIAS) 
excavated the site when it ``was threatened with partial destruction'' 
(Ferguson 1972: page 5) by the planned construction of homes. The 
Ferguson report indicates that the ceramic sherds from Burial #38 were 
transferred to the University of Tennessee (presumably at Knoxville) 
(Ferguson 1972: page 30), and Charles Nash (from Memphis State 
University) also examined the Arnold site ceramics, suggesting that 
some ceramics may have been transferred to Memphis State University. 
Excavations at the Arnold site uncovered the remnants of 17 ancient 
house structures and 151 graves of the ``stone box'' style (i.e., the 
tomb is made of upright stone slabs laid in a rectangular shape, wide 
at the upper end and narrow at the lower end). No known individuals 
were identified. The 2 associated funerary objects are two ceramic 
artifacts. Other associated funerary objects reported by Ferguson are 
not under the control of Vanderbilt University. The associated funerary 
objects were determined to be what archeologists term the ``Middle 
Cumberland Culture,'' which falls within the ``Mississippian period,'' 
a chronology that places the human remains and associated funerary 
objects squarely within the pre-contact era. This chronology is further 
supported by a radiocarbon date from a femur bone fragment. Available 
evidence suggests that the Arnold site dates to A.D. 1250, plus or 
minus approximately 100 years. Additional evidence that the human 
skeletons are Native American is the shovel-shaped incisors (a dental 
trait interpreted by archaeologists as biological evidence of Native 
American affiliation) and cranial modification (an earlier cultural 
practice affiliated with Native American identity).

Determinations Made by Vanderbilt University

    Officials of Vanderbilt University have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on the archeological context 
and radiocarbon dating.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 208 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), 2 ceramic 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 Native American 
human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day 
Indian tribe.
     The Treaty of 1805 indicates that the land from which the 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed is the aboriginal land of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, 
The Chickasaw Nation, and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to the Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians, The Chickasaw Nation, and United Keetoowah 
Band of Cherokee Indians.

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 associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Arrin 
Richards, Assistant General Counsel, Vanderbilt University, 2100 West 
End Avenue, Suite 750, Nashville, TN 37203, telephone (615) 322-5157, 
email [email protected], by March 27, 2017. After that 
date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of 
control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the 
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, The Chickasaw Nation, and United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians may proceed.
    Vanderbilt University is responsible for notifying the Eastern Band 
of Cherokee Indians, The Chickasaw Nation, and United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 19, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-03612 Filed 2-23-17; 8:45 am]
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