[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 219 (Wednesday, November 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78382-78383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25209]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036925; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Sutter County 
Museum, Yuba City, 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 Sutter County Museum intends to 
repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of either 
unassociated funerary objects or 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 
Sutter County and Yuba County, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after December 15, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Molly Bloom, Sutter County Museum, 1333 Butte House Road, 
Yuba City, CA 95993, telephone (530) 822-7141, 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 
Sutter County Museum. 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 Sutter 
County Museum.

Description

    The 115 lots of cultural items were removed from Sutter County and 
Yuba County, CA. The 72 lots of unassociated funerary objects are 10 
lots of bead objects, 13 lots of bone objects, 27 lots of modified 
stone objects, 20 lots of projectile points, one lot of shell objects, 
and one lot of wood objects. The 43 lots of objects of cultural 
patrimony are 39 lots of modified stone objects and four lots of 
projectile points.

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,

[[Page 78383]]

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 information, 
archeological information, oral tradition, and expert opinion in the 
form of Native American traditional knowledge.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Sutter County Museum has determined that:
     The 72 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
     The 43 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 December 15, 2023. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the Sutter County Museum 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 Sutter County Museum is responsible for 
sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations 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: November 8, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-25209 Filed 11-14-23; 8:45 am]
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