[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 36 (Friday, February 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11624-11626]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03618]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-22827; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Army, 
United States Army Garrison, Presidio of Monterey, Monterey, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of the Army, United States Army Garrison, 
Presidio of Monterey has completed an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate 
Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that 
there is no cultural affiliation between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects and any present-day Indian tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations. Representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request to the United States 
Army Garrison, Presidio of Monterey. If no additional requestors come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations 
stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice that wish to request 
transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary 
objects should submit a written request with information in support of 
the request to the United States Army Garrison, Presidio of Monterey at 
the address in this notice by March 27, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Colonel Lawrence Brown, Department of the Army, United 
States Army Garrison, Presidio of Monterey, 1759 Lewis Road, Suite 210, 
Monterey, CA 93944-3223, email [email protected], 
telephone (831) 242-7926.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the United States Army 
Garrison, Presidio of Monterey, Monterey, CA. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from the Presidio of Monterey, 
Monterey 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) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d). 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 and associated funerary 
objects. The National Park Service is not responsible for the 
determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the United 
States Army Garrison, Presidio of Monterey professional staff, with the 
assistance of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis 
District, Mandatory Center of Expertise in the Curation and Management 
of Archaeological Collections, and in consultation with representatives 
of Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa 
Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Santa 
Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, 
California; Table Mountain Rancheria of California; Tule River Indian 
Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California, and the following non-
federally recognized Indian group: Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation. The 
Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of

[[Page 11625]]

the Tuolumne Rancheria of California was also invited to consult but 
chose to not participate.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1910, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals 
were purportedly collected by an individual named Heath in the vicinity 
of El Castillo, site CA-MNT-101, in Monterey County, CA. A.R. Pilling 
stated that Heath gave him the human remains when Pilling donated them 
to the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of 
California, Berkeley, CA, in 1947. The human remains were identified as 
two adult males and one sub-adult of indeterminate sex. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    In 1947 and 1953, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual, were found by A.R. Pilling at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum 
of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, stored within 
faunal collections associated with El Castillo (CA-MNT-101), Monterey 
County, CA. The human remains were identified as one adult of 
indeterminate sex. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    In 1960, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual, 
were purportedly collected from the vicinity of El Castillo (CA-MNT-
101), Monterey County, CA. The human remains were donated to the 
Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, Pacific Grove, CA by Donald 
Howard. The catalog card states that the human remains were from ``the 
Presidio of Monteray (sic) near the intersection of Foam and Lighthouse 
above the cliff.'' The human remains were identified as an adult of 
indeterminate sex. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    In 1967, human remains representing, at minimum, nine individuals, 
were excavated from El Castillo (CA-MNT-101), Monterey County, CA. The 
excavations resulted from a proposal to establish a State Park or 
Monument at El Castillo, for which the CA Department of Parks and 
Recreation and the National Park Service contracted the Central 
California Archaeological Foundation to survey and excavate the 
proposed site. Collections from the excavation were curated at the 
California State Parks, Department of Parks and Recreation, California 
State Museum Resource Center, now titled the California Statewide 
Museum Collections Center, McClellan, CA. The human remains were 
identified as three adults (one male, one female and one of 
indeterminate sex), two sub-adults of indeterminate sex and four 
infants of indeterminate sex. No known individuals were identified. The 
122 associated funerary objects include: 1 andesite chipped stone 
scrapper or preform, 2 complete hammer stones (1 is basalt), 1 gray 
chert core, 1 antler flaking tool (burned), 1 incomplete antler tool, 1 
fragmented antler tine, 3 Olivella shell bead fragments, 1 shell 
fishhook fragment, 1 possible Haliotis ornament preform, 1 fragmented 
clam shell ornament, 19 unmodified mammal bones, 4 unmodified bird 
bones, 3 unmodified fish bones, 3 unmodified crustacean shells, and 80 
unmodified shells (including fragments of Haliotis, Olivella and Turban 
and few complete Haliotis, some of which may be modified).
    In 1985, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals 
were excavated from El Castillo (CA-MNT-101), Monterey County, CA. The 
archeological test excavations were conducted by Archaeological 
Consulting and Research Services to determine the effect on cultural 
resources of a proposed easement along Lighthouse Avenue, with a 
connection to Van Buren Street. The collection was originally stored at 
Fort Ord, Seaside, CA. In 1994, Cultural Resources Management Services 
(CRMS) inventoried archeological collections from the Presidio of 
Monterey. These collections were temporarily stored at their laboratory 
in Paso Robles, CA until they were moved to the San Diego 
Archaeological Center, Escondido, CA in 2003. The human remains were 
identified as one adult and one sub-adult of indeterminate sex. No 
known individuals were identified. The 188 associated funerary objects 
include: 3 chert projectile points, 1 granite and 1 metavolcanic 
hammerstone, 4 granite pestle fragments, 1 chert and 1 metavolcanic 
chopper, 1 siltstone scrapper, 10 biface fragments, 67 chipped stone 
debitage, 2 bone awl tips, 6 Mytilus fish hook fragments, 30 Olivella 
shell beads, 12 Haliotis shell pendant fragments, 1 modified Mytilus 
shell fragment, and 48 unmodified Olivella shell and shell fragments.
    In the 1984, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were excavated from CA-MNT-932, Monterey County, CA. The excavations 
were undertaken by Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Inc. to 
evaluate the site's eligibility for inclusion in the National Register 
of Historic Places. The collection was originally curated at San Jose 
State University, Department of Anthropology, San Jose, CA. In 1994, 
CRMS inventoried archeological collections from the Presidio of 
Monterey and stored them at their laboratory in Paso Robles, CA, until 
they were moved to the SDAC, Escondido, CA in 2003. SDAC inventoried 
the collection, and only at that time was the bone material in the 
collection positively identified as human. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.

Determinations Made by the United States Army Garrison, Presidio of 
Monterey

    Officials of the United States Army Garrison, Presidio of Monterey 
have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice are Native American based on morphological 
characteristics and the archeological context of the sites from which 
they were removed.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 17 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 310 objects 
described in this notice 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.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native American 
human remains and associated funerary objects and any present-day 
Indian tribe.
     A treaty signed in 1851 identified Indian lands to be 
ceded to the United States in exchange for compensation, and included 
the land from which the Native American human remains and associated 
funerary objects listed in this notice were removed. That treaty was 
one of 18 such treaties between the United States and Indian entities 
in California that were negotiated and signed in 1851 and 1852, wherein 
certain Indian lands were ceded to the U.S. in exchange for 
compensation. On July 8, 1852, the U.S. Senate refused to ratify any of 
those 18 treaties. Nonetheless, the United States proceeded to take the 
lands to be ceded, but without paying compensation.
     According to the California Indians Jurisdictional Act of 
1928 (45 Stat. 602), Congress declared that the uncompensated taking of 
these lands, including the land from which the Native American human 
remains and associated funerary objects listed in this notice were 
removed, provided grounds for granting equitable relief to

[[Page 11626]]

descendants of the Indian entities that signed those treaties.
     According to a final judgment of the Indian Claims 
Commission (8 Ind. Cl. Comm. 39a) and a final judgment of the Court of 
Federal Claims (102 Ct. C1. 837), the Indian entities in California 
that signed those 18 treaties held aboriginal title to the lands to be 
ceded, including the land from which the Native American human remains 
and associated funerary objects listed in this notice were removed. 
Consequently, the Court and the Commission awarded compensation to the 
descendants of the Indian entities that signed those treaties.
     The present-day Indian tribes that are descended from the 
Indian entities that signed the 1851 treaty ceding the land from which 
the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects 
listed in this notice were removed are the Picayune Rancheria of the 
Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian Community of the 
Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Table Mountain Rancheria of 
California; Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, 
California; and Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne 
Rancheria of California.
     According to an Act of Congress and final judgments of the 
Indian Claims Commission and the Court of Federal Claims, the land from 
which the Native American human remains and associated funerary objects 
were removed is the aboriginal land of the Picayune Rancheria of the 
Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian Community of the 
Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Table Mountain Rancheria of 
California; Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, 
California; and Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne 
Rancheria of California.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to Picayune 
Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian 
Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Table Mountain 
Rancheria of California; Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River 
Reservation, California; and Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the 
Tuolumne Rancheria of California.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization 
not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control 
of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Colonel 
Lawrence Brown, Department of the Army, United States Army Garrison, 
Presidio of Monterey, 1759 Lewis Road, Suite 210, Monterey, CA 93944-
3223, email [email protected], telephone (831) 242-
7926, by March 27, 2017. After that date, if no additional requestors 
have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi 
Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa 
Rancheria, California; Table Mountain Rancheria of California; Tule 
River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California; and, if 
joined to one or more of the afore-mentioned tribes, to the Santa Ynez 
Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, 
California and the Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation, a non-federally 
recognized Indian group, may proceed.
    The United States Army Garrison, Presidio of Monterey is 
responsible for notifying the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi 
Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa 
Rancheria, California; Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of 
the Santa Ynez Reservation, California; Table Mountain Rancheria of 
California; Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, 
California; and Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne 
Rancheria of California, that this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 30, 2017.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2017-03618 Filed 2-23-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P