[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 188 (Friday, September 29, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 67357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-21392]



[[Page 67357]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036677; 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 associated funerary objects and 
has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the 
associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations in this notice. The associated funerary objects were 
removed from Chico, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the associated funerary objects 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 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

    Between 1963 and 1984, CSU Chico conducted excavations at the Finch 
Site (CA-BUT-12). In addition, Joseph Chartkoff (then of UCLA) led an 
excavation at the site in the summer of 1967. Subsequently, Michigan 
State University obtained items from the site that had been excavated 
by Chartkoff. In the summer of 2023, Michigan State University 
transferred these items to CSU Chico, to be repatriated with the 
ancestors and associated funerary objects from the Finch Site (CA-BUT-
12) listed by CSU Chico in a Notice of Inventory Completion published 
in the Federal Register on June 29, 2023. The 56 associated funerary 
objects are one lot consisting of soil, three modified faunal elements, 
one organic item, two lots consisting of unmodified shells, eight lots 
consisting of modified stones, four lots consisting of stone debitage, 
and 37 projectile points.

Cultural Affiliation

    The 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, oral traditional, and expert opinion 
obtained through tribal consultation.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, CSU Chico has determined that:
     The 56 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.
     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 Mechoopda Indian Tribe of 
Chico Rancheria, California.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the 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 or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    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 associated funerary objects in this notice to a 
requestor may occur on or after October 30, 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 Tribe 
identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: September 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-21392 Filed 9-28-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P