[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 6, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16019-16020]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04671]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037543; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Winnemucca District Office, Winnemucca, NV

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, Bureau 
of Land Management, Winnemucca District Office 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 Washoe County, NV.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or 
after April 5, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Cedric Streater, Bureau of Land Management, 5100 E. 
Winnemucca Boulevard, Winnemucca, NV 89445, telephone (775) 623-1595, 
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 
Winnemucca District Office. 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 Winnemucca District Office.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, five individuals were 
removed from Washoe County, NV. The human remains consisted of five 
incomplete individuals: one adult male; one young adult male 
approximately 20-35 years old; one young adult male; one youth, 
possibly male, approximately 15-20 years old; and one child. These 
human remains were originally cataloged by the Hearst Museum under 
Accession 1030 and their catalog number is 12-8369. At the request of 
the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, these human remains were transferred to 
the Nevada State Museum (NSM) in 2012. The NSM catalog numbers for the 
human remains are AHUR 6019 through 6023.
    The Bureau of Land Management recently became aware of Native 
American human remains collected prior to November 16, 1990, on lands 
administered by the BLM. The human remains were reported as culturally 
unidentifiable on June 19, 2003, by the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of 
Anthropology (Hearst Museum). In November 2011, the BLM became aware of 
previously unreported Native American human remains through a letter 
from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe requesting BLM involvement in 
assisting with the repatriation of remains being held at the Hearst 
Museum. The remains were collected sometime in 1947-1948 near 
Winnemucca Lake Caves in Nevada and received by the Hearst Museum in 
1948. According to the records of the Hearst Museum, this material was 
reported in their Washoe County Inventory, dated June 28, 2000. In a 
closer review of the locality documentation, it was determined the 
material is under the control of the BLM.

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: geographical information and 
expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Winnemucca District Office 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 and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and the Bishop Paiute Tribe; 
Bridgeport Indian Colony; Burns Paiute Tribe; Cedarville Rancheria, 
California; Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of 
Oregon; Fort Bidwell Indian Community of the Fort Bidwell Reservation 
of California; Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of 
the Fort Independence Reservation, California; Fort McDermitt Paiute 
and Shoshone Tribes of the Fort McDermitt Indian Reservation, Nevada 
and Oregon; Klamath Tribes; Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe; Lovelock 
Paiute Tribe of the Lovelock Indian Colony, Nevada; Paiute-Shoshone 
Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and Colony, Nevada; Pyramid Lake Paiute 
Tribe of the Pyramid Lake Reservation, Nevada; Reno-Sparks Indian 
Colony, Nevada; Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Reservation, 
Nevada; Summit Lake Paiute Tribe of Nevada; Susanville Indian 
Rancheria, California; Battle Mountain Band, Nevada; Te-Moak Tribe of 
Western Shoshone Indians of Nevada (Battle Mountain Band); Utu Utu 
Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation, Nevada; Walker 
River Paiute Tribe of the Walker River Reservation, Nevada; Winnemucca 
Indian Colony of Nevada; and the Yerington Paiute Tribe of the 
Yerington Colony & Campbell Ranch, Nevada.

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 April 5, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation 
are received, the Winnemucca District Office 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 Winnemucca District Office is responsible 
for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native

[[Page 16020]]

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 27, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-04671 Filed 3-5-24; 8:45 am]
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