Russell Townsend

Barring complications, the skeletal remains of a prehistoric American Indian found more than four years ago on TVA property in the Wolftever Creek area soon again may rest at a new burial site nearby, according to officials.

“We will probably get (reburial) done within the month of July,” Russell Townsend, tribal historical preservation officer with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, said Monday.

“These reburial ceremonies are occurring several times a year, but they are private functions,” he said, noting the region is rich in American Indian history and was home to several tribes . “We try to be as respectful as we can.”

With a public notice ad in Monday’s Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tennessee Valley Authority officials sought final claims by July 10 on the remains in order to finalize federal requirements and return the remains to American Indian authorities for reburial.

According to the ad, members of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office found the remains in 2005 on the shore of Wolftever Creek in Harrison Bay.

“Based on the context from which the remains were recovered, the Hamilton County forensic anthropologist determined that they were prehistoric Native American and not modern. No cultural items were associated with the remains ...” the ad states.

“We’re following a procedure set out in the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,” said Eric Howard, the TVA’s interim cultural resources manager.

Mr. Townsend said the way the bones “just turned up” makes him believe they may been looted or perhaps found after they eroded out of a river or creek bank and placed in a conspicuous spot so they might be dealt with appropriately.

Records with the Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s office show a fisherman reported to Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies that he found the bones on a sandbar on Jan. 8, 2005, according to examiner’s office secretary Sherri Vaughn.

“Dr. (Frank) King and Dr. (John) Bodkin estimated the bones to be hundreds of years old,” she said, reading from the report. “On Jan. 11, 2005, TVA police came and picked up the remains.”

Mr. Howard said the remains appear to be Cherokee and appear to have eroded out of the creek bank. He said TVA officials did not believe the find was a case of grave looting.

Mr. Townsend said the bones could be Cherokee or Creek, but the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina are closer and have agreed to take responsibility for them. He praised TVA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for efforts to get the remains back to the tribe, rather than leaving them in a storage box.

“We’re starting to have more and more federal agencies that don’t want to curate remains,” Mr. Townsend said. But the process of dealing with the remains is new both to the tribes and the agencies.

“We don’t really have a reburial ceremony. Our elders never anticipated the need to do these kinds of things, so there’s not really any set tradition,” he said.