[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2118-2119]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00467]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035096; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of 
California, Riverside, Riverside, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of California, Riverside 
intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition 
of objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation 
with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. 
The cultural items were removed from Mono County, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after February 13, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Megan Murphy, University of California, Riverside, 900 
University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92517-5900, telephone (951) 827-6349, 
email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
University of California, Riverside. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional 
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results 
of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records held by 
the University of California, Riverside.

Description

    Thirteen cultural items were removed from site CA-Mno-2122 in Mono, 
CA, during an archeological excavation led by Brooke Arkush from the 
University of California, Riverside. The primary objective of the 
investigation was to track material cultural changes and subsistence 
practices of the Mono Lake Paiute from the Late Archaic Period (circa 
A.D. 500) to the Euro-American Settlement of the lake basin (A.D. 1850-
1920). The objects removed from the site represent approximately 1,500 
years' worth of indigenous use and occupation of the landscape. Arkush 
particularly focused on corral traps used by the Mono Lake Paiute for 
hunting pronghorn.
    The 13 objects of cultural patrimony are one lot of animal bones, 
one lot of ceramic sherds and vessels, one lot of glass shards and 
vessels, one lot of lithic flakes and arrowheads, one lot of metal 
fragments, one lot of shell artifacts and unmodified shell, one lot of 
wood artifacts, one lot of seed pods, one lot of mineralogical objects, 
one lot of glass beads, one lot of stones for milling, one lot of 
buttons (shell, metal, and wood), and one lot of fire-altered rock.

Cultural Affiliation

    The cultural items in this notice are connected to one or more 
identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a 
relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier 
groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were 
used to reasonably trace the relationship: archeological, geographical, 
historical, kinship, oral traditional, and expert opinion.
    Through consultation with tribal representatives, the University of 
California, Riverside finds that this site is culturally affiliated 
with the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation, 
California, and the Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony. The Utu Utu Gwaitu 
Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation, California considers the 
Owens Valley and Northern Paiute to be one related people and 
indigenous to the areas in which they now reside.
    The Mono Lake Kootzaduka'a Tribe, a non-federally recognized Indian 
group that also was consulted, consider the Mono Lake Basin to be their 
aboriginal territory, too. This group's representatives stated that 
Mono Lake families are related to families who are now members of the 
Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation, 
California, and the Bridgeport Paiute Indian Colony.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the University of California, Riverside has determined 
that:
     The 13 cultural items described above have ongoing 
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native 
American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an 
individual.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Utu Utu Gwaitu 
Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation, California, and the 
Bridgeport Indian Colony (previously listed as Bridgeport Paiute Indian 
Colony of California).

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by any lineal 
descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice who shows, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, that the requestor is a lineal descendant or a culturally 
affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
    Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to a requestor 
may occur on or after February 13, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of California, Riverside must 
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural items are considered a 
single request and not competing requests. The University of 
California, Riverside is responsible for sending a copy of this notice 
to the Indian Tribes identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, 10.10, 
and 10.14.


[[Page 2119]]


    Dated: January 4, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-00467 Filed 1-11-23; 8:45 am]
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