[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 96 (Thursday, May 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31818-31819]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10560]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035865; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Yuba County Water 
Agency, Marysville, 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), Yuba County Water Agency (YCWA) 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 Yuba County, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after June 20, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Jacob Vander Meulen, YCWA, 1220 F Street, Marysville, CA 
95901, telephone (530) 443-7412, 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 YCWA. 
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 YCWA.

Description

    Four lots of objects of cultural patrimony were removed from Yuba 
County, CA. They are described below.
    In 1966, one lot of cultural items was removed from an area near 
the southwestern end of Garden Valley during excavations carried out 
under the direction of archeologist Stephen E. Humphreys prior to 
inundation of the area by the Yuba County Water Agency's New Bullards 
Bar Project. The location was given archeological site numbers CA-YUB-
018, P-58-0036, YUB-S21, and BB#4. They are currently located at the 
California State University Sacramento (CSU Sacramento) curation 
facility. This lot contains projectile points and projectile point 
fragments, knives, scrapers, cores, choppers, ground or pecked stones 
including pestles, hammerstone, mano fragments, abrading stones, 
steatite objects, ochre, and other uncategorized objects.
    In 1966, one lot of cultural items was removed from an area near 
Garden Valley during excavations carried out under the direction of 
archeologist Stephen E. Humphreys prior to inundation of the area by 
the Yuba County Water Agency's New Bullards Bar Project. The location 
was given archeological site numbers CA-YUB-019, P-58-0037, YUB-S22, 
and BB#5. They are currently located at the CSU Sacramento curation 
facility. This lot contains projectile points and projectile point 
fragments, drills, knives and knife fragments, scrapers and halfted 
scrapers/knives, gravers, cores, choppers, ground or pecked stones 
including pestles, mano fragments, metates, and other uncategorized 
objects.
    In 1966, one lot of cultural items was removed from an area 
overlooking a tributary of Willow Creek during excavations carried out 
under the direction of archeologist Stephen E. Humphreys prior to 
inundation of the area by the Yuba County Water Agency's New Bullards 
Bar Project. The location was given archeological site numbers CA-YUB-
021, P-58-0039, YUB-S24, AR6(?), and BB#7. They are currently located 
at the CSU Sacramento curation facility. This lot contains groundstone 
flakes and other uncategorized objects.
    In 1966, one lot of cultural items was removed from the southeast 
side of Garden Valley during excavations carried out under the 
direction of archeologist Stephen E. Humphreys prior to inundation of 
the area by the Yuba County Water Agency's New Bullards Bar Project. 
The location was given archeologically designated site numbers: CA-YUB-
0024, YUB-S19, SSC1, BB#2, and P-58-0042. They are currently located at 
the CSU Sacramento curation facility. This lot contains projectile 
points and projectile point fragments, obsidian gravers, drills, spear 
points, halfted knives, scrapers, cores, choppers, ground/battered 
stone tools, rubbing stones, mortar fragments, a net sinker, an anvil 
stone, pestles, hammerstones, a shaped stone, a pendant, modified and 
unmodified steatite fragments (including bowl, cup, and dish 
fragments), red ochre, modified bones, a glass bead, a shaft polisher, 
shell fragments, and quartz crystals.

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: based on geographical, 
kinship, biological, archeological, anthropological, linguistic, 
folkloric, oral traditional, historical, and expert opinion, including 
tribal traditional knowledge.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, YCWA has determined that:
     The four lots of 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 United Auburn 
Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria 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 June 20, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, YCWA 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. YCWA is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the 
Indian Tribe 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 31819]]


    Dated: May 10, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-10560 Filed 5-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P