[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 139 (Friday, July 21, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47162-47163]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15522]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036224; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: California State University, 
Chico, Chico, 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 California State University Chico (CSU 
Chico) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Butte 
County, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after August 21, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Dawn Rewolinski, California State University, Chico, 400 W 
1st Street, Chico, CA 95929, telephone (530) 898-3090, 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 CSU 
Chico. 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 inventory or related records held by CSU Chico.

Description

Accession 11

    Human remains representing, at minimum, four individuals were 
removed from the Coleman Rock Shelter site in Butte County, CA. This 
site was first recorded by Eric Ritter in 1961 and was rerecorded by 
Keith Johnson of CSU Chico in 1964. When looting by local teenagers 
unearthed human remains in 1964, the Butte County Sheriff's Department 
was notified. Records suggest that these human remains were held by the 
Sheriff's Department and eventually were transferred to CSU Chico. In 
1965, a CSU Chico field class excavated the site under the direction of 
Keith Johnson. The 199 associated funerary objects are five organics, 
23 lots consisting of debitage, 71 modified stones, 60 projectile 
points, two modified shells, one ash sample, two pieces of petrified 
wood, one soil sample, 14 unmodified faunal elements, 10 modified 
faunal elements, three pieces of modified clay, two ochre samples, and 
five modified organics.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects 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: anthropological, archeological, historical, and expert 
opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the California State University, Chico has determined 
that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of four individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 199 objects described in this notice are reasonably 
believed to have

[[Page 47163]]

been placed with or near individual human remains at the time of death 
or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu 
Indians of California; Enterprise Rancheria of Maidu Indians of 
California; and the Mechoopa Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria, 
California.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes identified in this notice 
and, if joined to a request from one or more of the Indian Tribes, the 
Konkow Valley Band of Maidu, a non-federally recognized Indian group.
    2. 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 human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August 21, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, CSU Chico must 
determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. 
Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. CSU Chico 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 10.9, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: July 14, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-15522 Filed 7-20-23; 8:45 am]
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