[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24824-24825]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-11839]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects from Patrick's Point State Park, 
Humbolt County, CA in the Possession of the California Department of 
Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the possession of the California Department of 
Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, CA.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by California 
Department of Parks and Recreation

[[Page 24825]]

professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Big 
Lagoon Rancheria of Smith River Indians, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian 
Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, and the Yurok Tribe of the Yurok 
Reservation.
    In 1948, human remains representing one individual were recovered 
from site CA-HUM-118 during excavations conducted by the Archaeological 
Research Facility, University of California-Berkeley under the 
direction of Robert F. Heizer. The resulting collections from site CA-
HUM-118 were returned to Patrick's Point State Park in 1949. In 1981, 
the human remains and associated funerary objects were turned over to 
local Yurok people for reburial. In 1992, additional human remains from 
the individual, and funerary objects were found in an artifact tray 
with DPR's Archaeology Lab. No known individuals were identified. The 
two associated funerary objects are an olivella bead and a silicate 
cobble.
    Based on material culture, site CA-HUM-118 has been identified as a 
Gunther Pattern (ancestral Yurok) occupation dating from after 1310 
A.D. to possibly as late as the 1850s. Archeological evidence indicates 
Yurok presence in this area since about 1100 A.D.
    Based on the above mentioned information, officials of the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation have determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains listed above 
represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American 
ancestry. Officials of the California Department of Parks and 
Recreation have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(2), 
the two objects listed 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 
California Department of Parks and Recreation have determined that, 
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship of shared group 
identity which can be reasonably traced between these Native American 
human remains and associated funerary objects and the Big Lagoon 
Rancheria of Smith River Indians, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community 
of the Trinidad Rancheria, and the Yurok Tribe of the Yurok 
Reservation.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Big Lagoon Rancheria 
of Smith River Indians, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the 
Trinidad Rancheria, and the Yurok Tribe of the Yurok Reservation. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Robert M. Wood, NAGPRA Coordinator, California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street, Room 1431, 
Sacramento, CA 95814; telephone (916) 653-7976; before June 4, 1998. 
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects to 
the Big Lagoon Rancheria of Smith River Indians, the Cher-Ae Heights 
Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, and the Yurok Tribe of the 
Yurok Reservation may begin after that date if no additional claimants 
come forward.
Dated: April 29, 1998.
Francis P. McManamon,
Departmental Consulting Archeologist,
Manager, Archeology and Ethnography Program.
[FR Doc. 98-11839 Filed 5-4-98; 8:45 am]
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