[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 104 (Wednesday, June 1, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 31518]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10798]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, CA

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. 3005, of the intent 
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, Sacramento, CA, that meet the 
definition of ``unassociated funerary objects'' under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
    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 cultural 
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    The cultural items are two steatite beads collected by Frank F. 
Latta some time between 1927 and 1932. Notes from Mr. Latta indicate 
that the beads were burial related and came from either the Leaning 
Rock Burial or Bear Creek Burial. Neither of the sites has been 
identified. Mr. Latta donated the beads to the California Department of 
Parks and Recreation on July 24, 1988.
    The two beads are consistent with the types used by the Northern 
and Southern Valley Yokuts. Mr. Latta collected extensively in the 
historic territory of the Yokuts. Considering the totality of the 
circumstances, it is likely that this collection is Yokuts.
    A detailed assessment of the cultural items was made by the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation Committee on Repatriation 
in consultation with representatives of the Santa Rosa Indian Community 
of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California (also known as the Tachi Yokut 
Tribe) and the Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, 
California. Because there is no historical affiliation for this 
collection beyond its general Yokuts attribution, the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation considers the beads to be culturally 
affiliated with all federally recognized present-day Yokuts tribes.
    Officials of the California Department of Parks and Recreation have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the cultural items 
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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of an Native 
American individual. Officials of the California Department of Parks 
and Recreation also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be 
reasonably traced between the unassociated funerary objects and the 
Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa 
Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California (also known as 
the Tachi Yokut Tribe); Table Mountain Rancheria of California; and 
Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the two steatite beads should contact 
Paulette Hennum, NAGPRA Coordinator, California Department of Parks and 
Recreation, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 
653-7976 before July 1, 2005. Repatriation of the two steatite beads to 
the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa 
Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California (also 
known as the Tachi Yokut Tribe); Table Mountain Rancheria of 
California; and Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, 
California may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The California Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible 
for notifying the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians of 
California; Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, 
California (also known as the Tachi Yokut Tribe); Table Mountain 
Rancheria of California; and Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River 
Reservation, California that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 20, 2005
Paul Hoffman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 05-10798 Filed 5-31-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S