[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 245 (Friday, December 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88649-88650]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28179]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037124; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Antelope Valley College, 
Lancaster, 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), Antelope Valley College (AVC) 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 Yuba, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after January 22, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Darcy L. Wiewall, Antelope Valley College (AVC) 3041 W 
Ave. K, Lancaster, CA 93536, telephone (661) 722-6300 Ext. 6902, 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 AVC. 
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 AVC.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 13 individuals were removed 
from Yuba, CA. These human remains and associated funerary objects came 
into AVC's possession in 2019. The human remains were excavated in 1966 
by Ernest D. Wetstein (Yuba College Science Division) and directed by 
Roger Robinson (Sacramento State) with volunteer crews from Yuba 
College and local high schools at CA-YUB-164 (aka Yuba 58-1). Roger 
Robinson brought the collection to Antelope Valley College in 1968 and 
subsequently transferred it to his personal residence in 2007. In 2019, 
Antelope Valley College took possession of the collection. In July 
2021, California State University, Sacramento Archaeological Curation 
Facility, transferred four Lindhurst Site (CA-YUB-164) items to be 
reunited with the rest of the collection in AVC's possession. The five 
lots of associated funerary objects consist of faunal, lithics, shell, 
ground stone, clay objects, sediment samples, and rocks.

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 information, archeological information, 
geographical information, folkloric, historical, kinship, linguistic, 
oral traditional, 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, AVC has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 13 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The five lots of 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 United Auburn Indian Community 
of the Auburn Rancheria of 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 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.

[[Page 88650]]

    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after January 22, 2024. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, AVC 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. The AVC 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 10.9, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: December 13, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-28179 Filed 12-21-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P