[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 184 (Monday, September 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53343-53344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20913]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0032655; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: California State University, 
Sacramento, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The California State University, Sacramento has completed an 
inventory of associated funerary objects, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has 
determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the associated 
funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian 
Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice 
that wish to request transfer of control of these associated funerary 
objects should submit a written request to the California State 
University, Sacramento. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the associated funerary objects to the lineal 
descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in 
this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these associated funerary objects should 
submit a written request with information in support of the request to 
the California State University, Sacramento at the address in this 
notice by October 27, 2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Dianne Hyson, Dean of the College 
of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies, California State 
University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street Sacramento, CA 95819, telephone 
(916) 278-6504, email [email protected].

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 associated funerary 
objects under the control of the California State University, 
Sacramento, Sacramento, CA. The associated funerary objects were 
removed from CA-SAC-16 (also known as the Bennett Mound, Willey Mound, 
or Mound Ranch) in Sacramento County, CA.

[[Page 53344]]

    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 and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the associated funerary objects was made 
by the California State University, Sacramento professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-
Wuk Indians of California; Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California; 
Kletsel Dehe Band of Wintun Indians [previously listed as Cortina 
Indian Rancheria]; Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle 
Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract), California; United Auburn Indian 
Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California; and two non-federally 
recognized Indian groups, the Miwok Tribe of El Dorado Rancheria and 
the Nashville-Eldorado Rancheria. The Wilton Rancheria, California and 
the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, California [previously listed as Rumsey 
Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians of California] were invited to 
consult but did not participate. Hereafter, all the above entities are 
referred to as ``The Consulted and Invited Tribes and Groups.''

History and Description of the Associated Funerary Objects

    On March 15, 2011, human remains and associated funerary objects 
from site CA-SAC-16 in Sacramento County, CA, were listed in a Notice 
of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register (76 FR 14052-
14054, March 15, 2011). Subsequently, these human remains and objects 
were repatriated to the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle 
Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract), California. Following repatriation, 
428 additional funerary objects associated with the previously 
repatriated human remains were found in the collections of California 
State University, Sacramento. They include 425 associated funerary 
objects from the 1971 Sacramento State College excavation led by Ann 
Peak and three associated funerary objects from the 1960s American 
River College excavations directed by Charles Gebhardt (which had been 
transferred from American River College to California State University 
Sacramento). The 425 funerary objects from the 1971 excavation are one 
lot of ash, 11 pieces of baked clay, two shell beads, four lots of 
charcoal, two pieces of debitage, one edge modified flake, one 
groundstone fragment, nine invertebrate remains, two pieces of historic 
metal, two shell ornaments, one unmodified stone, 17 thermally altered 
rocks, two bird bone tubes, and 370 faunal remains. The three funerary 
objects from the 1960s excavations are two shell beads and one animal 
bone.
    Temporally diagnostic artifacts recovered from CA-SAC-16 indicate 
that the site was used from the Middle Horizon up until the early 
Historic Period. Linguistic evidence suggests that ancestral-Penutian 
speaking groups related to modern day Miwok, Nisenan, and Patwin groups 
occupied the region during the Middle (550 B.C.--A.D. 1100) and Late 
(A.D. 1100--Historic) Horizons, while ethnohistoric and ethnographic 
sources indicate that the site was most likely historically occupied by 
Nisenan-speaking groups. Consequently, officials of California State 
University, Sacramento reasonably believe that the ethnographic, 
historical, and geographical evidence indicates that the burials and 
cultural items recovered from Site CA-SAC-16 are most closely 
affiliated with contemporary descendants of the Nisenan, and have more 
distant ties to neighboring groups, such as the Plains Miwok and 
Patwin.

Determinations Made by the California State University, Sacramento

    Officials of the California State University, Sacramento have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 428 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), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
associated funerary objects and the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk 
Indians of California; Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California; 
Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria 
(Verona Tract), California; United Auburn Indian Community of the 
Auburn Rancheria of California; and the Wilton Rancheria, California 
(hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these associated funerary objects should 
submit a written request with information in support of the request to 
Dr. Dianne Hyson, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and 
Interdisciplinary Studies, California State University, Sacramento, 
6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819, telephone (916) 278-6504, email 
[email protected], by October 27, 2021. After that date, if no additional 
requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the associated 
funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed. If joined to a request from 
one or more of The Tribes, the following non-federally recognized 
Indian groups may also receive transfer of control of the human remains 
and associated funerary objects: The Miwok Tribe of El Dorado Rancheria 
and the Nashville-Eldorado Rancheria.
    The California State University, Sacramento is responsible for 
notifying The Consulted and Invited Tribes and Groups that this notice 
has been published.

    Dated: September 21, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-20913 Filed 9-24-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P