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 GRSM and additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

A total of 4,506 unassociated funerary objects have been requested for repatriation. These include faunal remains and faunal fragments, shell and shell fragments, ceramics and sherds, lithics and lithic fragments, stone and stone tools, beads and bead fragments, ear spools, pipe and pipe fragments, metal knife fragments, metal rings, trade musket fragments, and a chert knife with a provenience of various sites in Haywood, Jackson, and Swain counties, North Carolina (31HW188, 32JK3, 31SW1, 31SW53, 31SW67, 31SW90, 31SW150, 31SW154) and Blount and Sevier counties, Tennessee (40BT8, 40SV127, 40SV126). All the objects were acquired between 1935 and 1942 with the exception of all the objects from 40BT8 which were donated in 1960, and one object collected from private land and donated in 1991. No hazardous substances are known to have been used to treat the cultural items.

Determinations

GRSM has determined that:

• The 4,506 unassociated funerary objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
• There is a reasonable connection between the cultural items described in this notice and the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under ADDRESSES . Requests for repatriation may be submitted by 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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.

Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after June 9, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, GRSM must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural items are considered a single request and not competing requests. GRSM is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in ( printed page 19524) this notice and to any other consulting parties.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

90 FR 19523