[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14701-14702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04088]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037473; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of California, 
Riverside, Riverside, 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 University of California, Riverside 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 Ventura, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after March 29, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Megan Murphy, University of California, Riverside, 900 
University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92517-5900, telephone (951) 827-6349, 
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 
University of California, Riverside. 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 the University of California, Riverside.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from Ventura County, CA. The cranium of 1 young adult female Native 
American individual was discovered in a cave in Ventura County by a 
group of young boys participating in the ``Trailfinders'' camp. The 
cranium was housed at the University of California James San Jacinto 
Mountain Natural Reserve in a cabinet with other mammal crania since 
its founding in 1966 by Harry James who was also the founder of 
Trailfinders. The cabinet and its contents were reportedly given to the 
reserve by the Department of Biology at the University of California, 
Riverside (UCR). Through conversations with previous reserve directors, 
UCR NAGPRA Staff found that there was an oral history among individuals 
(now in their 80s and 90s) who participated in the Trailfinders 
organization about how the cranium was discovered. Former director of 
the James Reserve, Michael Hamilton, indicated that he was told by 
former Trailfinders that the cranium was found in a cave in Ventura 
County during a hike. Through speaking with other former members, UCR 
NAGPRA Staff discovered that the Trailfinders owned property on Sespe 
Creek in Ventura County north of Filmore where they often had weekend 
camping trips. They typically hiked upstream (north) on Sespe Creek 
because that was the only direction they could go for a hike. Living 
Trailfinders who have spoken with UCR NAGPRA Staff suggested that it is 
likely that the cranium was found in the Sespe Creek drainage in 
Ventura County during one such hike.
    Additional post-cranial human remains representing one young adult 
female Native American individual were reported by the University of 
California, Riverside's Department of Evolution Ecology & Organismal 
Biology (EEOB) to the UCR NAGPRA Program. The department staff 
indicated that the human remains, which were stored in a cardboard box 
labeled ``Indian Bones'', had been in the department since at least 
before the 1990s. Despite an exhaustive attempt to contact previous 
professors and department chairs, no information was found by the 
NAGPRA Program Staff to indicate how the human remains became part of 
the department's collections. The cabinet which the human remains were 
stored in contained the post-cranial remains of other vertebrate 
mammals. Examination of the human remains by an osteologist determined 
that there were also a few

[[Page 14702]]

large sea mammal bones mixed with the human remains and were likely 
from the same archeological context. Furthermore, osteological analysis 
suggested the post cranial remains could represent the same individual 
as the crania at the James San Jacinto Mountain Natural Reserve. 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: anthropological information, 
archeological information, biological information, geographical 
information, historical information, oral tradition, expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the University of California, Riverside has determined 
that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual 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 Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, 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 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 in this notice to a requestor may 
occur on or after March 29, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of California, Riverside 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. The University of 
California, Riverside is responsible for sending a copy of this notice 
to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in 
this notice.
    This notice was submitted before the effective date of the revised 
regulations (88 FR 86452, December 13, 2023, effective January 12, 
2024). As the notice conforms to the mandatory format of the Federal 
Register and includes the required information, the National Park 
Service is publishing this notice as submitted.

    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: February 20, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-04088 Filed 2-27-24; 8:45 am]
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