```

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 11 (Friday, January 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6001-6002]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01184]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039348; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

Notice of Intended Disposition: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Tulsa District, Tulsa, OK

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, Tulsa 
District (USACE Tulsa) intends to carry out the disposition of human 
remains and associated funerary objects removed from Federal or Tribal 
lands to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization with priority for disposition in this notice.

DATES: Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice may occur on or after February 18, 2025. If no claim for 
disposition is received by January 20, 2026, the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice will become unclaimed human 
remains and associated funerary objects.

ADDRESSES: Jacqueline Rodgers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa 
District, 2488 East 81st Street, Tulsa, OK 74137, telephone (918) 669-
4964, email [email protected].

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 
USACE Tulsa, and additional information on the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice, including the results of 
consultation, can be found in the related records. The National Park 
Service is not responsible for the identifications in this notice.

[[Page 6002]]

Abstract of Information Available

    Based on the information available, human remains representing, at 
least, eight individuals have been reasonably identified. The, at 
least, 10 associated funerary objects are one pocketknife, one .22 
caliber bullet, one brooch, and seven lots of coffin hardware and 
coffin fill. In the 1840s, The Chickasaw Nation citizens founded the 
community of Willis along the Red River in what became Marshall County, 
Oklahoma. A city cemetery was established that was estimated to hold 
500 graves, many of which were unmarked. Between December 1942 and 
March 1943, USACE Tulsa contracted a company to relocate Willis 
Cemetery prior to the inundation of Lake Texoma. Due to the age of the 
cemetery at the time and the loss of original grave markers, several 
internments were missed during the relocation effort. Over time, 
multiple inadvertent discoveries of human remains have occurred eroding 
from the shoreline of Lake Texoma from the original Willis Cemetery 
location. Site 34MA86, previously recorded as a precontact artifact 
scatter, was updated to a multicomponent site to include the Willis 
Cemetery. The remains of at least eight individuals with funerary 
objects have been recovered over time. In February 1998 two adults and 
one child were recovered with three lots of coffin hardware with the 
assistance of a representative from Chickasaw Nation. In 2001 the 
remains of one child and one young adult male with funerary objects 
including two lots of coffin hardware and fill, one pocket knife, and 
one .22 caliber bullet were recovered. In 2008 the remains of one young 
adult female with no associated funerary objects were recovered by law 
enforcement, determined to be not of forensic interest, and remitted to 
the Oklahoma Archaeological Survey (OAS). In August 2016 OAS was 
informed of an inadvertent discovery, and in conjunction with USACE 
Tulsa exhumed two individuals and funerary objects including two lots 
of coffin hardware and fill, and one brooch. Currently all eight 
individuals and all funerary objects are located at the Tulsa District 
Archaeological Repository.

Determinations

    The USACE Tulsa has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of eight individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The at least 10 objects described in this notice are 
reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near 
individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the 
death rite or ceremony.
     The Chickasaw Nation has priority for disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice.

Claims for Disposition

    Written claims for disposition of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the appropriate 
official identified in this notice under ADDRESSES. If no claim for 
disposition is received by January 20, 2026, the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice will become unclaimed human 
remains and associated funerary objects. Claims for disposition may be 
submitted by:
    1. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that they have priority for disposition.
    Disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects in 
this notice may occur on or after February 18, 2025. If competing 
claims for disposition are received, the USACE Tulsa must determine the 
most appropriate claimant prior to disposition. Requests for joint 
disposition of the human remains and associated funerary objects are 
considered a single request and not competing requests. The USACE Tulsa 
is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the lineal 
descendants, Indian Tribes, and Native Hawaiian organizations 
identified in this notice and to any other consulting parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3002, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.7.

    Dated: January 13, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-01184 Filed 1-16-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
```