[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 207 (Wednesday, October 28, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 55577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-25965]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: San Diego Museum 
of Man, San Diego, 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 a cultural item in the possession of the San Diego Museum 
of Man, San Diego, CA, that meets the definition of ``unassociated 
funerary object'' 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 
item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.
    The one fragmented textile (museum No. 1963-5-1) was found in a 
Yokut cemetery at the south end of Buena Vista Lake, Kern County, CA. 
The textile is contained in a frame with a note on the back of the 
frame stating, ``Found in May 1935 by Edwin F. Walker in a Yokuts 
cemetery 25 feet above the shoreline of Buena Vista Lake, Kern County, 
California, and 1,000 feet north of shoreline at outlet of the lake.'' 
The textile was received at the San Diego Museum of Man in 1963.
    Museum records clearly indicate that the textile was found in a 
Yokut cemetery. Further information from the back of the frame states, 
``Found...in square F/70, burial H, Depth 45 - disturbed burial of an 
adult, elderly, flexed, head to west, fabric wrapped around legs, no 
other material.'' There are no known associated human remains in the 
museum's collection. The Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa 
Rancheria, California provided the museum with territory and language 
family maps, written ethnographical information about the Yokuts and 
their inter-relationships with surrounding communities, which covers 
the territory where the unassociated funerary object was discovered. 
Based on consultation, the museum was able to determine that the Santa 
Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California has a 
shared group identity with the unassociated funerary object.
    Officials of the San Diego Museum of Man have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the one cultural item described 
above is 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 is believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual. Officials of the San Diego Museum of Man 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 object and the Santa Rosa Indian 
Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary object should 
contact Philip Hoog, Archaeology and NAGPRA Coordinator, San Diego 
Museum of Man, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101, 
telephone (619) 239-2001, before November 27, 2009. Repatriation of the 
unassociated funerary object to the Santa Rosa Indian Community of the 
Santa Rosa Rancheria, California may proceed after that date if no 
additional claimants come forward.
    The San Diego Museum of Man is responsible for notifying the Santa 
Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: October 7, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-25965 Filed 10-27-09; 8:45 am]
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