[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 63 (Monday, April 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19700-19702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-7876]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


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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SUMMARY: The California Department of Parks and Recreation, in 
consultation with the appropriate tribes, has determined that the 
cultural items meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and 
repatriation to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no 
additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural item 
may contact the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural item should contact the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation at the address below by 
May 2, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Rebecca Carruthers, NAGPRA Coordinator, California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street, Room 902, 
Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 653-8893.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 under the 
control of the California Department of Parks and Recreation that meet 
the definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001. 
The unassociated funerary objects were removed from twelve sites 
located in San Diego and Imperial counties, 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 cultural item. The National

[[Page 19701]]

Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

History and description of the cultural item

    The unassociated funerary objects were removed from twelve sites 
located in San Diego and Imperial Counties, CA. The geographical 
location of these sites indicates that the unassociated funerary 
objects were recovered within the historically documented territory 
shared by the Cahuilla and the Kumeyaay. Northern areas of the Anza 
Borrego Desert State Park, such as the San Felipe Creek drainage, Culp 
Valley, Pinyon Ridge, the Borrego Badlands, and the Borrego Valley, may 
have formed a so-called ``transitional zone'' between the Cahuilla and 
the Kumeyaay. The two groups would have used the areas jointly or, as 
convenient, for subsistence or ceremonial needs.
    The traditional territory of the Kumeyaay includes a significant 
portion of present-day San Diego County up to the Aqua Hedionda area 
and inland along the San Felipe Creek (just south of Borrego Springs). 
Bound to the east by the Sand Hills in Imperial County and includes the 
southern end of the Salton Basin and all of the Chocolate Mountains, 
the territory extends southward to Todos Santos Bay, Laguna Salada and 
along the New River in northern Baja California. The central and 
southern portions of Anza Borrego Desert State Park lie within the 
traditional territory of the Kumeyaay.
    The traditional aboriginal territory of the Cahuilla, as defined by 
anthropologist Lowell John Bean, encompasses a geographically diverse 
area of mountains, valleys and low desert zones. The southernmost 
boundary approximately followed a line from just below Borrego Springs 
to the north end of the Salton Basin and the Chocolate Mountains. The 
eastern boundary ran along the summit of the San Bernardino Mountains. 
The northern boundary stood within the San Jacinto Plain near 
Riverside, while the base of Palomar Mountain formed the western 
boundary. According to Bean and archeologist William D. Strong, the 
northern end of Anza Borrego Desert State Park lies within the 
traditional territory of the Cahuilla and includes the areas of Borrego 
Palm Canyon, Coyote Canyon, Clark Valley, the Santa Rosa Mountains, 
Jackass Flat, Rockhouse Canyon and Horse Canyon.
    At an unknown date, Harvey Clark collected a small pottery bowl 
from site CA-SDI-4443 in the Barrel Springs area of Ocotillo Wells 
State Vehicular Recreation Area, an area of the park known to contain 
large village sites with cremation burials. The bowl is an unassociated 
funerary object based on the proximity of human cremation burials in 
the area and the personal nature of the object. Although the object 
does not appear to be heavily burned, it is more likely than not to 
have come from a funerary context.
    At an unknown date, an unidentified individual collected one lot of 
charcoal samples from an unidentified cremation burial within Anza 
Borrego Desert State Park. In 1989, the objects were found in the Paul 
Ezell Archives at the Arizona State Museum and subsequently returned to 
the California Department of Parks and Recreation in 2000. The samples 
are unassociated funerary objects based upon the labels which read: 
``Charcoal Do Not Open, Yuman Inhumation, Anza-Borrego.''
    At an unknown date prior to 1980, an unidentified individual 
collected a Haliotis ornament, 12 melted glass beads and three burnt 
pottery fragments from an unidentified site along the shoreline of the 
Salton Sea in Lower Borrego Valley. The objects were donated to the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation by Ada Jackson in 1980. 
The objects were recovered from the shoreline of the ancient Lake 
Cahuilla where there are extremely dense concentrations of habitation 
and cremation deposits. The objects are unassociated funerary objects 
based on the proximity of human cremation burials in the area, the 
burned exterior which is consistent with exposure to heat during 
cremation, and the description on the Haliotis ornament which states 
``Cremation Associated.''
    Sometime in the 1970s, archeologist William Seidel collected a 
burnt potsherd from site D-7-5 northwest of Borrego Springs, CA, an 
area known to contain large village sites with cremation burials. The 
potsherd is an unassociated funerary object based on the proximity of 
human cremation burials, the personal nature of the object, and the 
burned exterior which is consistent with exposure to heat during 
cremation.
    At an unknown date, Phil Benge collected a small pottery bowl from 
an unidentified site near Tamarisk Grove in Anza Borrego Desert State 
Park, an area known to contain major village sites with cremation 
burials. The bowl is an unassociated funerary object based on the 
proximity of human cremation burials in the area and the ceremonial 
nature of the object. Small bowls such as this were not ordinary 
household utilitarian vessels but were used by ceremonial leaders to 
mix medicinal and ceremonially ingested substances, sometimes used in 
funerary and mourning ceremonies. Although the object does not appear 
to be heavily burned, it is more likely than not to have come from a 
funerary context.
    Sometime in the 1970s, archeologist William Seidel collected eight 
Olivella shell beads from an unidentified site south of the airport in 
Borrego Springs, CA, an area known to contain large village sites with 
cremation burials. The beads are unassociated funerary objects based 
upon the proximity of human cremation burials in the area and the 
ceremonial/personal nature of the objects. Although the objects do not 
appear to be heavily burned, they is more likely than not to have come 
from a funerary context.
    At an unknown date between 1945 and 1955, Mrs. Jane Thomas 
collected one lot of over 200 burnt shell beads from an unidentified 
site in mesquite dunes in the Ocotillo Badlands east of Ocotillo Wells, 
an area known to contain large village sites with cremation burials. 
The beads are unassociated funerary objects based upon the proximity of 
human cremation burials in the area, the personal nature of the 
objects, and the burned exterior which is consistent with exposure to 
heat during cremation.
    At an unknown date, B. Frizzel collected two burnt Olivella shell 
beads from an unidentified site near Ocotillo Wells in San Diego 
County, CA. The beads are unassociated funerary objects based upon the 
personal nature of the objects and the burned exterior which is 
consistent with exposure to heat during cremation.
    At an unknown date, Harry Dick Ross collected one lot of over 80 
burnt Olivella shell beads from an unidentified site in Lower Borrego 
Valley in San Diego and Imperial County, CA, an area known to contain 
large village sites with cremation burials. The beads are unassociated 
funerary objects based upon the proximity of human cremation burials in 
the area, the personal nature of the objects, and the burned exterior 
which is consistent with exposure to heat during cremation.
    At an unknown date, an unidentified individual collected a pipe 
stem fragment from an unidentified site in the Harper Flat area of Anza 
Borrego Desert State Park. The object was donated to the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation by Harry D. Ross in 1979. This 
unassociated funerary object was recovered from an area known to 
contain large village sites with cremation burials. The pipe fragment 
to be an unassociated funerary object based upon the proximity of human 
cremation burials in the area and the

[[Page 19702]]

ceremonial/personal nature of the object. Although the object does not 
appear to be heavily burned, it is more likely than not to have come 
from a funerary context.
    At an unknown date, an unidentified individual collected one lot of 
more than 100 burnt beads, seven pipe fragments, a pottery ball, and a 
pottery object from an unidentified site in the Borrego Valley area of 
Anza Borrego Desert State Park. These objects were a part of the DuVall 
Collection, which was later donated to California Department of Parks 
and Recreation in the 1970s. The DuVall Collection represents cultural 
materials collected on and around an early settlers' ranch in Borrego 
Valley. Given the lack of specific provenience, the geographical 
location of the site is impossible to determine. Based on the 
provenience of the other objects from the DuVall Ranch in Borrego 
Valley, it can be reasonably assumed that these remains were collected 
from the same geographic region. These unassociated funerary objects 
are thought to have been collected from an area know to contain 
extensive habitation and burial deposits. The Borrego Sink was an area 
where both the Kumeyaay and the Cahuilla peoples came together for 
ceremonial events such as cremation and mourning ceremonies. The 
objects are unassociated funerary objects based on the ceremonial/
personal nature of the objects common to cremation burials of the 
Kumeyaay and Cahuilla and the burned exterior which is consistent with 
exposure to heat during cremation.
    At an unknown date, individuals (including DC Barbee, F. Fairchild, 
Ada Jackson, Harry D. Ross and Ben McCown) collected objects from an 
unknown number of archaeological sites and these materials were stored 
in the Borrego Archaeological Research Center in Anza Borrego Desert 
State Park. The unassociated funerary objects consist of 57 burnt shell 
beads, 6 pipe fragments and one small pottery bowl. Though no specific 
provenience information is available for these objects, they appear 
consistent with the material culture of Cahuilla or Kumeyaay in the 
region of Anza Borrego Desert State Park. In this region, pipes, shell 
beads, and small pottery bowls were often disposed of when a person 
died and was cremated. The objects are ceremonial/personal in nature, 
and although the object does not appear to be heavily burned, it is 
more likely than not to have come from a funerary context.

Determinations made by the California Department of Parks and 
Recreation

    Officials of the California Department of Parks and Recreation have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the 107 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 is believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
     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 Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla 
Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, California; Augustine 
Band of Cahuilla Indians, California (formerly the Augustine Band of 
Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Augustine Reservation); Cabazon Band of 
Mission Indians, California; Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the 
Cahuilla Reservation, California; Campo Band of Diegueno Mission 
Indians of the Campo Indian Reservation, California; Capitan Grande 
Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California: Barona Group of Capitan 
Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Barona Reservation, California, 
and Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians 
of the Viejas Reservation, California; Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay 
Indians, California; Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, California (formerly 
the Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Santa Ysabel 
Reservation); Inaja Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Inaja and 
Cosmit Reservation, California; Jamul Indian Village of California; La 
Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the La Posta Indian 
Reservation, California; Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno 
Indians, California (formerly the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla & Cupeno 
Indians of the Los Coyotes Reservation); Manzanita Band of Diegueno 
Mission Indians of the Manzanita Reservation, California; Mesa Grande 
Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation, 
California; Morongo Band of Mission Indians, California (formerly the 
Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Morongo Reservation); 
Ramona Band of Cahuilla, California (formerly the Ramona Band or 
Village of Cahuilla Mission Indians of California); San Pasqual Band of 
Diegueno Mission Indians of California; Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla 
Indians, California (formerly the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Mission 
Indians of the Santa Rosa Reservation); Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay 
Nation; and Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, California 
(formerly the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of 
California) (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary object should 
contact Rebecca Carruthers, NAGPRA Coordinator, California Department 
of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street, Room 902, Sacramento CA 
95814, telephone (916) 653-8893, before May 2, 2012. Repatriation of 
the unassociated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The California Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible 
for notifying The Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 28, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-7876 Filed 3-30-12; 8:45 am]
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