88 FR 86 pgs. 28607-28608 - Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Savannah, GA
Type: NOTICEVolume: 88Number: 86Pages: 28607 - 28608
Pages: 28607, 28608Docket number: [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035772; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
FR document: [FR Doc. 2023-09476 Filed 5-3-23; 8:45 am]
Agency: Interior Department
Sub Agency: National Park Service
Official PDF Version: PDF Version
[top]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035772; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Savannah, GA
AGENCY:
National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY:
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from Columbia County, GA.
DATES:
Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on or after June 5, 2023.
ADDRESSES:
Mr. Rodney Parker, Regulatory Archeologist and District Tribal Liaison, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, 100 W Oglethorpe Avenue, Savannah, GA 31401, telephone (912) 652-5964, email Rodney.D.Parker@usace.army.mil.
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 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District.
Description
Thirteen cultural items were removed from Columbia County, GA. Between 1948-1951, the National Park Service's River Basin Survey conducted archeological investigations at the Lake Springs Village site (9CB22), which is located within the former Clark's Hill Lake, today, Thurmond Lake. Subsequent excavations were conducted at this site by the Smithsonian Institution on behalf of the Savannah District in response to the imminent construction of Thurmond Lake. (Additional cultural objects and human remains removed from this site are housed at the Smithsonian Institution and are under its control.) The 13 unassociated funerary objects are two incised bone pendants, four worked bone fragments, two incised bones, one atlatl fragment/weight, one bear tooth pendant, two ceramic polishing stones, and one undrilled soapstone atlatl weight.
Cultural Affiliation
The cultural items in this notice are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological, archeological, biological, geographical, historical, other relevant information, and expert opinion.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, has determined that:
• The 13 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.
• There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the cultural items and The Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Requests for Repatriation
[top] Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 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 5, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, 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. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, §?10.10, and §?10.14.
Dated: April 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-09476 Filed 5-3-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P