[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 106 (Monday, June 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30825-30826]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-10714]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: California Department of 
Transportation, Oakland, CA and Anthropological Studies Center, 
Archaeological Collections Facility, Sonoma State University, Rohnert 
Park, 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. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains in control of the 
California Department of Transportation, Oakland, CA and in the 
possession of the Anthropological Studies Center, Archaeological 
Collections Facility, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA. The 
human remains were removed from Sonoma County, CA.
    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 Native 
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
Archaeological Collections Facility, Sonoma State University staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Dry Creek Rancheria of Pomo 
Indians of California; Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the 
Sulphur Bank Rancheria, California; Federated Indians of Graton 
Rancheria, California; Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts 
Point Rancheria, California; Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of 
California; and Tuolumne Band of the Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne 
Rancheria of California.
    In 1993, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from CA-SON-1695 (accession 93-37), Sonoma 
County, CA, during an excavation conducted by the Archaeological 
Collections Facility, Sonoma State University on behalf of the 
California Department of Transportation. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    At the time of discovery, remains that were identified as human 
were re-buried. In 1996, Archaeological Collections Facility, Sonoma 
State University staff identified human remains probably associated 
with this individual during a NAGPRA inventory. The human remains date 
to the Middle Period (2000 B.P.-900 B.P.) and are Coast Miwok based on 
cultural constituents recovered from the site.
    In 1998, the Archaeological Collections Facility, Sonoma State 
University determined that while there was evidence of a shared group 
identity (cultural affiliation) between the human remains and a 
particular Indian group, the human remains were ``culturally 
unidentifiable'' since the particular Indian group, the Federated Coast 
Miwok, was not recognized as an Indian tribe by the United States at 
that time. The Archeological Collections Facility requested that the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Review Committee 
recommend disposition of the human remains to the Federated Coast 
Miwok. On May 21, 1999, the Review Committee's Designated Federal 
Officer, writing on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior, 
recommended disposition of the human remains to the Federal Coast Miwok 
once concurrence with the proposal was obtained from federally 
recognized Indian tribes that currently resided in the immediate 
vicinity of where the human remains were recovered. Officials of the 
Archaeological Collections Facility, Sonoma State University consulted 
with five federally recognized Indian tribes: Dry Creek Rancheria of 
Pomo Indians of California; Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the 
Sulphur Bank Rancheria, California; Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the 
Stewarts Point Rancheria, California; Middletown Rancheria of Pomo 
Indians of California; and Tuolumne Band of the Me-Wuk Indians of the 
Tuolumne Rancheria of California. All five tribes supported the 
Federated Coast Miwok request for disposition. In 2000, the Federated 
Coast Miwok became the federally recognized Federated Indians of Graton 
Rancheria, California. Descendants of the Coast Miwok are members of 
the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, California.
    Officials of the California Department of Transportation and 
Archaeological Collections Facility, Sonoma State University have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of one individual of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the California Department of 
Transportation and Archaeological Collections Facility, Sonoma State 
University also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), a 
relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably traced between 
the Native American human remains and the Federated Indians of Graton 
Rancheria, California.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Erica 
Gibson, NAGPRA Project Coordinator, Archaeological Collections 
Facility, Anthropological Studies Center, Sonoma State University, 
Rohnert Park, CA 94928, telephone (707) 664-2015, or Jennifer 
Darcangelo, District Office Chief, Office of Cultural Resources 
Studies, Caltrans District 4, Oakland, CA 94623-0660, telephone (510) 
286-5618, before July 5, 2007. Repatriation of the human remains to the 
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, California may proceed after 
that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The California Department of Transportation is responsible for 
notifying the Dry Creek Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California; Elem 
Indian Colony of Pomo Indians of the Sulphur Bank Rancheria, 
California; Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, California; Kashia 
Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria, California; 
Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians

[[Page 30826]]

of California; and Tuolumne Band of the Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne 
Rancheria of California that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 9, 2007
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-10714 Filed 6-1-07; 8:45 am]
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