[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 187 (Thursday, September 28, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66894-66895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21250]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036652; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: California State 
University, 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) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects and 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 
Placer and Sutter Counties, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after October 30, 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 the 
California State University, Chico. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.

[[Page 66895]]

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 California State University, Chico.

Description

Accession 351

    In 2002, two objects of cultural patrimony were archeologically 
recovered at the Holiday Inn Express site in Roseville, Placer County, 
CA, by the Archeological Research Program at CSU, Chico. The two 
objects of cultural patrimony are one lot consisting of metal and one 
lot consisting of unmodified faunal remains.

Accession 429

    At an unknown date, six cultural items--two unassociated funerary 
objects and four objects of cultural patrimony--were removed from 
Placer and Sutter Counties, CA. Subsequently, these items became part 
of the collection of Dale Ritter. In 2019, Ritter's son, Eric Ritter, 
donated these items to the Chico State Anthropology Department. The two 
unassociated funerary objects are one lot consisting of modified shells 
and one lot consisting of unmodified shells. The four objects of 
cultural patrimony are one lot consisting of modified stones, one lot 
consisting of stone debitage, one lot consisting of modified shells, 
and one lot consisting of unmodified shells.

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: anthropological, 
archeological, historical, and expert opinion in the form of Tribal 
traditional knowledge.

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 two cultural items described above 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 and 
are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed 
from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
     The six 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 October 30, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the California State University, Chico 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 California State 
University, Chico 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.

    Dated: September 20, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-21250 Filed 9-27-23; 8:45 am]
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