# 2025-19954: Tennessee Returns Ancestral Remains to Honor Native Heritage

2025-19954, Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, Nashville, TN, is a Federal Register notice from Interior Department, National Park Service published 2025-11-17, effective 2025-12-17 (as of 2026-06-08).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-19954
- As of: 2026-06-08
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2025-19954
- Title: Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, Nashville, TN
- Type: Notice
- Agencies: Interior Department; National Park Service
- Citation: 90 FR 51389
- Published: 2025-11-17
- Effective: 2025-12-17
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: no
- Regulation identifier numbers: none
- Last updated: 2026-06-08

## In one line

Tennessee Returns Ancestral Remains to Honor Native Heritage

## Summary

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has finished checking and listing human remains and burial items from Davidson County. These remains and objects are linked to Native American tribes, and they can be returned to the tribes starting December 17, 2025. This process helps honor Native American heritage and ensures respectful handling of these important cultural items.

## Abstract

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology (TDEC-DOA) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects from Davidson County, Tennessee and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

## Effects PRIA read

- Repatriation Available Starting December 17, 2025: benefit, low. You (an affiliated Indian Tribe or an eligible lineal descendant) may request return of the human remains and funerary objects on or after December 17, 2025. Written requests must be sent to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology at the contact listed in t…
- Inventory Identified 23 Individuals and 360 Objects: benefit, low. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation identified human remains representing at least 23 individuals and 360 associated funerary objects from site 40DV53 in Davidson County, Tennessee. The listed objects include 285 shell beads, projectile points, pipes, a ceramic vessel, and 40 l…
- Cultural Affiliation Identified to Specific Tribes: benefit, low. TDEC-DOA determined a cultural affiliation between the remains/objects and these tribes: Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas; Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation;…
- Who May Request and How Competing Claims Are Handled: benefit, low. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any one or more of the tribes named in this notice or by any lineal descendant or tribe not listed who shows by a preponderance of the evidence a cultural affiliation. If competing requests are received, TDEC-DOA must determine the most appropriate requ…

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## Sources
- [2025-19954 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/17/2025-19954/notice-of-inventory-completion-tennessee-department-of-environment-and-conservation-division-of)
- [2025-19954 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-11-17/pdf/2025-19954.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2025-19953, Notice of Intended Repatriation: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-19953)
- [Next: 2025-19955, Notice of Inventory Completion: Tennessee Department of Environment and Conserv…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-19955)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2025-19954 (as of 2026-06-08).