[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 47 (Friday, March 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16797-16798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04993]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037570; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: California State 
University, Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, and East Bay Municipal Utility 
District, Oakland, 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), California State University, Sacramento and 
East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) intend to repatriate 
certain cultural items that meet the definition of objects of cultural 
patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes 
or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after April 8, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Mark Wheeler, Chief of Staff to President Luke Wood, 
California State University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 
95819, telephone (916) 460-0490, email [email protected], and Chuck 
Beckman, Manager of Watershed and Recreation, East Bay Municipal 
Utility District, 15083 Camanche Parkway South, Valley Springs, CA 
95252, telephone (209) 772-8203, 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 
California State University, Sacramento and EBMUD, and additional 
information on the

[[Page 16798]]

determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, 
can be found in the summary or related records. The National Park 
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    The 18,984 cultural items were removed from several sites in Amador 
County, CA. In the 1950s and 1960s, California State University, 
Sacramento conducted various surveys and excavations prior to the 
inundation of Camanche Reservoir, variously under the direction of 
William Beeson, Jerald Johnson, Louis Payen, William Hansen, and David 
Boloyan. These sites include AMA-04, AMA-05, AMA-08, AMA-45, AMA-50, 
and AMA-76. All collections were curated at California State 
University, Sacramento. The 18,984 objects of cultural patrimony 
include faunal and flora remains; flaked and ground stone objects; 
unmodified stones; historic objects; modified shell, stone and wood; 
baked clay; ash; ochre; soil and geologic samples; thermally altered 
rocks; other organic material; and unidentified material. Of this 
number, 978 objects are currently missing from the collections. 
California State University, Sacramento continues to look for these 978 
missing objects.

Determinations

    California State University, Sacramento and EBMUD have determined 
that:
     The 18,984 cultural items described above have ongoing 
historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native 
American group or culture itself, including any constituent sub-group 
(such as a band, clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other 
subdivision), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of 
an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
     There is a reasonable connection between the cultural 
items described in this notice and the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk 
Indians of California and the Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified 
in this notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be 
submitted by 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 cultural items in this notice to a requestor 
may occur on or after April 8, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the California State University, Sacramento 
and EBMUD must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to 
repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural items are 
considered a single request and not competing requests. The California 
State University, Sacramento and EBUMD is responsible for sending a 
copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

    Dated: February 29, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-04993 Filed 3-7-24; 8:45 am]
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