FR Doc E8-23680[Federal Register: October 7, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 195)]
[Notices]
[Page 58627-58628]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07oc08-102]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department, Austin, TX
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 and associated funerary
objects in the possession of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,
Austin, TX. The human remains and associated funerary objects were
removed from Lake Quitman, Wood County, TX.
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 and associated funerary objects. The National
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department professional staff in consultation with
representatives of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.
In the 1960s, human remains representing a minimum of one
individual were removed from a known Caddo cemetery site (41WD60), at
the Quitman Lake Dam area in Wood County, TX, by person(s) unknown. At
some point thereafter, the collection came into the possession of the
Wood County Commissioners Court. On January 14, 1976, the Wood County
Commissioners Court donated the collection to the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department. No known individual was identified. The 22
associated funerary objects are 19 ceramic vessels, 2 arrow points, and
a group of ceramic sherds (approximately 2,249).
The Caddo Indians historically occupied northeast Texas, northwest
Louisiana, southwest Arkansas, and southeast Oklahoma. The Caddo have a
long history in northeast Texas, with the earliest identifiable Caddo
sites dating to around A.D. 800, and developed directly out of the
Woodland period populations of this region. The Caddo Indians were
forcibly removed from Texas in the 19th century.
On July 6 and 7, 2005, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
archeologists and Caddo Nation representatives made an assessment of
the human remains and associated funerary objects and found the human
remains and associated funerary objects are affiliated with the Caddo.
Aside from one untyped vessel, the complete vessels in this collection
have been identified as LaRue Neck Banded (n=1), Womack Engraved (n=1),
McKinney Plain (n=2), and Ripley Engraved (n=14), each of which are
associated with the Late Caddo Period in northeast Texas. Specifically,
LaRue Neck Banded ceramics have been dated to A.D.1430-1680. Ripley
Engraved ceramics date to A.D. 1430-1680 and are typical of the Titus
Phase in northeast Texas. Perttula (2004:401- 404) identifies Ripley
Engraved as a common ceramic in Titus Phase burials and since these are
complete vessels (although in some cases reconstructed) lends itself to
this interpretation. LaRue Neck Banded ceramics are generally
considered utilitarian vessels, although better examples of this
ceramic type may have been traded. Although LaRue Neck Banded and
McKinney Plain ceramics are not specifically singled out as mortuary
items, their being relatively intact and removed from what has been
identified as a Caddo cemetery indicate that they were intentionally
interred, probably as a mortuary offering.
Officials of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains
described above represent the physical remains of at least one
individual of Native American ancestry. Officials of the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department also have determined that, pursuant to 25
U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 22 objects 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.
Lastly, officials of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a
relationship of
[[Page 58628]]
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Caddo
Nation of Oklahoma.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary
objects should contact Aina Dodge, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,
4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744, telephone (512) 389-4876,
before November 6, 2008. Repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects to the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma may proceed
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is responsible for notifying
the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma that this notice has been published.
Dated: September 10, 2008
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-23680 Filed 10-6-08; 8:45 am]
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