[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00124]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037195; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Yosemite National Park, El Portal, 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 U.S. Department of the Interior, 
National Park Service, Yosemite National Park (YOSE) has completed an 
inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were removed 
from Mariposa County, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after February 7, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Cicely Muldoon, Superintendent, Yosemite National Park, 9039 
Village Drive, Yosemite National Park, CA 95389, telephone (202) 372-
8181, 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 
Superintendent, YOSE. Additional information on the determinations in 
this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the 
inventory or related records held by YOSE.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from an unknown site in Mariposa County, CA, in the 1930s by a 
California Conservation Crew working in the Crane Flat area. The human 
remains were identified at the time of discovery as Native American by 
a physical anthropologist and were turned over to the Yosemite Museum 
by Gus Eastman, the park ranger overseeing the crew. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from an unknown site in the Cascades area in Mariposa County, CA, in 
the 1930s. The human remains were identified at the time of discovery 
as Native American by a physical anthropologist and were turned over by 
a donor named Edward L. Eidem. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from CA-MRP-301 in Mariposa County, CA in 1988 during heavy 
equipment excavation of a trench for a National Park Service electrical 
line. An examination by a physical anthropologist determined that these 
human remains are Native American and were buried approximately 800 
years ago. No associated funerary objects are present.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains 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: archeological information, 
biological information, geographical information, historical 
information, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, YOSE has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of five individuals of Native American ancestry.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice 
and the Bishop Paiute Tribe; Bridgeport Indian Colony; Northfork 
Rancheria of Mono Indians of California; Picayune Rancheria of 
Chukchansi Indians of California; and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk 
Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria of California.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 
Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, and Mono Lake Kootzaduka'a Tribe, non-
federally recognized Indian groups.
    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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after February 7, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, YOSE must determine the most appropriate 
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the 
human remains are considered a single request and not competing 
requests. YOSE 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 28, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-00124 Filed 1-5-24; 8:45 am]
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