[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14714-14715]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04090]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037476; 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 
(UCR) 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 
Riverside, CA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects 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, two individuals were 
removed from Riverside County, CA. In 1987, the University of 
California, Riverside Archaeological Research Unit removed the remains 
of at least two Native American individuals from the Lakeview (Dead 
Dog) sites in the Lakeview Mountains, west of the city of

[[Page 14715]]

San Jacinto during an archeological excavation contracted by Patricia 
Olsen, president of Matrix Development. During the mitigation project, 
11 archeological sites were identified, but only three (RIV-402, RIV-
403, and RIV-575) were determined to require further mitigation. The 
sites are in the nearby vicinity of the well-known ``Ramona Maze'', a 
large petroglyph depicting a cruciform centered maze enclosed in a 
rectangular border (RIV-1138). The general area contains dozens of 
millingstone stations and rock-cairn structures and is well-known to 
both the Cahuilla and Luiseno communities as part of their cultural 
landscapes. The archeological site RIV-402 contains a large petroglyph 
as well, described by archeologists as ``pit and groove'' style. The 
``Dead Dog Site'' or RIV-575 was noted to have deep midden deposits and 
was likely a habitation site. At this site three separate burials were 
disturbed during excavation, including one cremation feature with 
fragmented remains, one in-tact burial, and one isolated human phalanx 
from a juvenile individual. According to a written account by Daniel 
McCarthy, he notified the coroner who offered to send someone out to 
review, but McCarthy declined, stating that it was more likely 
archeological in nature. He then reportedly went to a nearby tribal 
office the next day around 1:15 p.m. but did not find anyone in the 
office. He then reportedly called the office again and wrote a letter 
but made no further attempts to get in contact. According to UCR 
catalog records, in July of 1990, 19 lots of human bones and associated 
funerary objects were reburied in La Quinta by a Tribe, however, the 
rest of the objects in the collection remained at UCR. It seems likely 
that the UCR archeologists returned only what they identified to be 
human bone and associated funerary objects, rather than allowing Tribes 
to review the collections in their entirety. In 2023, during Tribal 
consultation, an osteological consultant identified additional 
fragments of cremated human remains in the collections. Tribal 
representatives also identified associated funerary objects. The 20 
associated funerary objects are three lots of animal bone, two lots of 
ceramic, two lots of glass, three lots of lithic flakes and objects, 
one lot of modified animal bone, three lots of floral material and 
charcoal, two lots of geological materials, one lot of clay, one lot of 
metal, one lot of mineralogical objects, and one lot of plastic.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from Riverside County, CA. In 1938, the human remains of one Native 
American adult individual were removed from the private property of the 
Pedrorena de Wolfskill family by Harley S. Garbani, an amateur fossil 
hunter and collector. The property that the individual was removed from 
is now owned by the Rancho Del Sol Golf Club in Moreno Valley. 
Documentation of the excavation and circumstances surrounding Garbani's 
acquisition of the human remains are extremely limited and professional 
publications provide little to no additional narrative. In 1981, Dr. 
R.E. Taylor, director of the University of California, Riverside 
Radiocarbon Laboratory, obtained a sample of the individual for 
radiocarbon dating. The residual sample material was subsequently 
stored by Dr. Taylor at an off-campus storage facility and never 
reported to the UCR NAGPRA Program Staff. In February of 2022, the 
sample from the individual was discovered by NAGPRA Program Staff 
during a collections inventory. Radiocarbon dates indicate an age of 
3055  140 BP. The one associated funerary object is one lot 
of soil samples.

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: archeological information, geographical information, 
historical information, oral tradition, expert tribal 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 three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 21 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 Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla 
Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, California; Augustine 
Band of Cahuilla Indians, California; Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians 
(previously listed as Cabazon Band of Mission Indians, California); 
Cahuilla Band of Indians; Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno 
Indians, California; Ramona Band of Cahuilla, California; Santa Rosa 
Band of Cahuilla Indians, California; Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, 
California; and the Torrez Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, 
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 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 and associated funerary objects 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. 2024-04090 Filed 2-27-24; 8:45 am]
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