Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS

Melanie O'Brien
Department of the Interior
15 August 2019

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 158 (Thursday, August 15, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41735-41736]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17552]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0028570; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 
Natchez Trace Parkway 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 Natchez Trace 
Parkway. 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.

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 Natchez Trace Parkway at the address in this notice by 
September 16, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Mary Risser, Superintendent, Natchez Trace Parkway, 2680 
Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS 38804, telephone (662) 680-4005, 
email mary_risser@nps.gov.

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 U.S. Department of 
the Interior, National Park Service, Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS. 
The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from 
sites in Chickasaw and Lee Counties, MS.
    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 Superintendent, Natchez Trace Parkway.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Natchez 
Trace Parkway professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Cherokee Nation, The Chickasaw Nation, The Seminole Nation of 
Oklahoma, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma.

[[Page 41736]]

History and Description of the Remains

    At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, 15 
individuals were removed from the Rich Toy Factory site in Lee County, 
MS. The remains were found in 1984 in boxes in the abandoned warehouse. 
It is likely that looters removed them from a mound on the factory 
property. While it's unclear how the remains came to be in the 
possession of Natchez Trace Parkway, it appears likely that the staff 
historian of Natchez Trace Parkway received them from the owners of the 
warehouse. No known individuals were identified. No associated funerary 
objects are present.
    In 1947 and 1948, human remains representing, at minimum, 16 
individuals were removed from the Bynum Mounds site in Chickasaw 
County, MS, during archeological investigations by the National Park 
Service. No known individuals were identified. The four associated 
funerary objects are four hammered copper spools.

Determinations Made by Natchez Trace Parkway

    Officials of Natchez Trace Parkway have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on removal from known Native 
American sites.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 31 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the four 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. The National Park Service intends 
to convey the associated funerary objects to the tribes pursuant to 54 
U.S.C. 102503(g) through (i) and 54 U.S.C. 102504.
     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.
     Treaties, Acts of Congress, or Executive Orders, indicate 
that the land from which the Native American human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed is the aboriginal land of The 
Chickasaw Nation.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to The Chickasaw 
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 associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Mary 
Risser, Superintendent, Natchez Trace Parkway, 2680 Natchez Trace 
Parkway, Tupelo, MS 38804, telephone (662) 680-4005, email 
mary_risser@nps.gov, by September 16, 2019. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to The Chickasaw Nation 
may proceed.
    Natchez Trace Parkway is responsible for notifying the Cherokee 
Nation, The Chickasaw Nation, The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, and the 
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma that this notice 
has been published.

    Dated: July 25, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-17552 Filed 8-14-19; 8:45 am]
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