[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 160 (Thursday, August 20, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42095-42096]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19971]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Forest Service, Daniel Boone National Forest, Winchester, KY

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    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 in the possession of the 
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Daniel Boone National 
Forest, Winchester, KY. The human remains were removed from three 
locations in Laurel, McCreary, and Powell Counties, KY.
    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. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by University 
of Kentucky/Kentucky Archaeological Survey professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of 
Indians of Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma; Eastern Band of 
Cherokee Indians of North Carolina; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; 
Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma; and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians 
in Oklahoma.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from site 15Ll86, Laurel County, KY. The human 
remains were found in an artifact collection stored at the Daniel Boone 
National Forest while doing a collections inventory. The human remains 
from this site were collected from looter backdirt piles by Forest 
Service archaeologists who first recorded the site in 1983. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Artifacts recovered from the site indicate that this site was 
occupied from the Middle Archaic through Middle Woodland cultural 
periods dating from 6000 B.C. to A.D. 300. The fragmentary human 
remains are from unknown contexts within the site.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from the Cane Creek locality in Powell County, 
KY. The human remains were a turned over to the Daniel Boone National 
Forest anonymously. The donor claimed to have been given the human 
remains by an individual who had removed them from an unidentified site 
in the Cane Creek area of the Daniel Boone National Forest. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    The human remains are from one middle-aged female (30-50 years). A 
non-human femoral head was commingled with the remains, but is not 
considered to be an associated funerary object. The human remains are 
believed to have come from a prehistoric context, and probably predate 
A.D. 1700.
    Sometime in the 1960s, human remains representing a minimum of six 
individuals were removed from a rockshelter, probably site 15McY1066, 
on Forest Service land in McCreary County, KY, by a road construction 
crew. The human remains were anonymously turned over to the Daniel 
Boone National Forest. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    This is the largest of the three collections reported in this 
notice, and one diagnostic artifact was recovered. Though it is not 
considered an associated funerary object, it indicates that the site 
dates from A.D. 900 to 1700.
    The contexts from which the three collections of human remains were 
reportedly removed suggest that they are all prehistoric Native 
Americans. Since there is no specific provenience information, other 
than general site locations within a broad temporal context, there is 
insufficient contextual information to culturally affiliate the human 
remains with any specific, present-day Indian tribe.
    Officials of the Daniel Boone National Forest have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described above 
represent the physical remains of eight individuals of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the Daniel Boone National Forest also have 
determined that, 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 any present-day Indian tribe.
    The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review 
Committee (Review Committee) is responsible for recommending specific 
actions for the disposition of culturally unidentifiable human remains. 
In 2008, the Daniel Boone National Forest requested that the Review 
Committee recommend disposition of the eight culturally unidentifiable 
human remains to the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; 
Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North 
Carolina; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma; 
and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, as 
aboriginal and historic occupants of lands in Kentucky. The tribes have 
also requested for the direct reburial of the culturally unidentifiable 
human remains in the Indian Rest Place Cemetery on the Daniel Boone 
National Forest, and for the reburial to be witnessed and directed by 
representatives of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. The 
Review Committee considered the request at its May 15-16, 2008 meeting 
and recommended disposition of the human remains to the Absentee-
Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma; 
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina; Eastern Shawnee 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma; and United Keetoowah Band 
of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. A January 27, 2009, letter from the 
Designated Federal Official on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior 
transmitted the authorization for the Daniel Boone National Forest to 
effect disposition of the human remains of the eight culturally 
unidentifiable individuals to the tribes listed above

[[Page 42096]]

and for the reburial to occur contingent on the publication of a Notice 
of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register. This notice fulfills 
that requirement.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact the 
Forest Archaeologist, Daniel Boone National Forest, Winchester, KY 
40391, telephone (859) 745-3138, before September 21, 2009. Disposition 
of the human remains to the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of 
Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians 
of North Carolina; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe, 
Oklahoma; and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Daniel Boone National Forest is responsible for notifying the 
Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Cherokee Nation, 
Oklahoma; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina; Eastern 
Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma; and United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: July 20, 2009.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-19971 Filed 8-19-09; 8:45 am]
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