[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 5 (Monday, January 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 957-958]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00133]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037204; 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 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 CSU 
Chico.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects

[[Page 958]]

in this notice may occur on or after February 7, 2024.

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

    The Finch Site (CA-BUT-12) in Butte County, CA, was first recorded 
by A. Pilling in 1949 and later in 1963 by Dorothy Hill. Francis 
Riddell led a Chico State College (now CSU, Chico) field class 
excavation at the site in the summer of 1963, and Professor Keith 
Johnson, accompanied by Riddell, led a second excavation at the site 
with a Chico State College field class in spring, 1964. Joseph 
Chartkoff (then of UCLA) led an excavation at the site in summer, 1967. 
In spring, 1983, and spring, 1984, Professor Makoto Kowta led CSU, 
Chico field class excavations at the site. Our records indicated the 
site was archeologically recovered as a joint project between UCLA and 
CSU Chico. CSU Chico contacted UCLA to determine if they held any 
additional human remains and cultural items from the 1967 archeological 
recovery. UCLA determined they did have cultural items from CA-BUT-12 
and transferred legal and physical control of the additional cultural 
items to CSU Chico on October 23, 2023. Human remains were also 
identified in the rehousing process of the additional cultural items at 
CSU Chico.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were 
removed from Butte County, CA. The 6,735 associated funerary objects 
were a part of the original excavations and collection, which UCLA 
transferred to CSU Chico to be reinterred with the ancestors and 
cultural items of Accession 4, Finch Site (CA-BUT-12) listed in the 
Notice of Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register on 
June 29, 2023 (88 FR 42099-42101). The additional 6,735 associated 
funerary objects are 47 lots of organics, 1,914 lots of debitage, 426 
lots of modified stone, 123 lots of projectile points, 218 lots of 
unmodified shell, 500 lots of modified shell, 53 lots of charcoal, 325 
lots of soil, 2,866 lots of faunal elements, 261 lots of modified 
faunal elements, one lot of modified clay, and one lot of ochre.

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, 
oral tradition, 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, CSU Chico has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 6,735 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 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.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after February 7, 2024. 
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 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. 2024-00133 Filed 1-5-24; 8:45 am]
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