Natchez Trace Parkway, 2680 Natchez Trace Parkway, Tupelo, MS 38801

B -- SPECIAL NAGPRA STUDY FOR THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE SOL 1443RP557099001 DUE 060499 POC Dale Wilkerson, Contracting Officer, (601) 680-4009 E-MAIL: Contracting Officer's EMail, dale_wilkerson@nps.gov. CONTRACT GOALS and SCOPE: The government requests proposals to conduct a special NAGPRA study for the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Chickasaw Nation has requested that the Natchez Trace Parkway, a unit of the National Park Service, allow the tribe to re-inter human remains and associated funerary objects of the tribe on Natchez Trace Parkway lands. This request was made under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), P.L.101-601. The contract resulting from this solicitation will establish the basic framework and agreement between the government and the contractor for an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. Specific research objectives and requirements will be accomplished through Task Orders issued under the IDIQ, with the overall goal of the study being to provide the Park Superintendent with information needed to make a decision on the Chickasaw Nation request; the decision could be either affirmative or negative. The government anticipates award to a single contractor, who will be required to perform research and to gather information related to the Chickasaw's request and to provide other decisional information. The base IDIQ contract period will be one year, with two additional option years possible. The performance period for each task order will be negotiable. BACKGROUND: The Natchez Trace Parkway commemorates and roughly follows the old Natchez Trace, originally a series of connected Indian and animal trails running from Natchez, Mississippi to the northeast toward Nashville, Tennessee. Since much of the northern half of the Parkway is now situated on land once home to the Chickasaw Nation, the tribe has proposed re-interment of repatriated human remains and associated funerary objects in an area of the Parkway they consider to be their ancestral native land. NAGPRA essentially requires that both federal and non-federal agencies and institutions repatriate human remains and funerary objects which might be culturally affiliated with the tribe upon requestof that tribe, but the law appears to be silent concerning re-intering remains on federally held lands. Additionally, current Department of Interior rules and procedures governing implementation of NAGPRA requirements (43 CFR Part 10) are also silent concerning this matter. SPECIFIC TASKS: Once the basic IDIQ is established between the government and the contractor, the government will provide to the contractor a separate statement of work for each specific Task Order. The contractor will evaluate the statement of work and will then provide a price proposal to the government for accomplishment of the Task Order. The government anticipates that the total dollar value for all task orders issued under the basic IDIQ will not exceed $100,000. The following types of tasks are expected to be included in the task orders: determining whether there are federal precedents for establishing American Indian re-interment sites such as that requested by the Chickasaw nation and, if so, what procedures and processes were used; gathering information on current re-interment practices, policies and procedures by federal or state agencies; determining whether any bars exist to re-interment of repatriated human remains and associated funerary objects not originally removed from park lands, regardless of the source from which they are to be repatriated; performing an assessment of the potential numbers of remains and volume of objects likely to be repatriated to the Chickasaw Nation and which would be re-intered at the selected site, including not only those in the possession of the National Park Service, but also from such diverse sources as the University of Mississippi, Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, etc.; gathering information concerning Chickasaw Nation laws, ordinances, regulations and other official tribal government rules which have bearing on this request; and gathering appropriate information on Chickasaw Nation burial practices as they relate to burial and re-interment. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: This procurement is being conducted under full and open competition procedures and contract award will be made utilizing streamlined source selection procedures. The solicitation package will be available o/a May 5, 1999. Requests for solicitation may be in written or electronic form, and may be sent to the address listed in this notice, FAXed to (601) 840-7561, or E-Mailed to dale_wilkerson@nps.gov Posted 04/13/99 (W-SN319829). (0103)

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