[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 155 (Monday, August 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Page 65659]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-17880]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038467; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: 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 
intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition 
of unassociated funerary objects or 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 September 9, 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, and additional information on the 
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

    A total of two cultural items have been requested for repatriation. 
The one unassociated funerary object is a bag of cremated ceramic 
potsherds. In 1985 the UCR Archaeological Research Unit was hired to 
assess several archaeological sites along Highway 111 in La Quinta, 
Riverside County for the Desert Sands Unified School District ahead of 
potential grading. During their pedestrian survey the archaeologists 
assessed archaeological sites CA-RIV-1180, CA-RIV-1980, CA-RIV-1981, 
and CA-RIV-1982. They observed cremated human remains on the surface of 
CA-RIV-1980 and contacted the chairman of a Cahuilla band, who advised 
that the remains should not be disturbed. The archaeologists did, 
however, collect some pottery sherds that were found in association 
with the cremation.
    The one object of cultural patrimony is a large ceramic olla. In 
the Winter of 1972, Dr. Wilke of the University of California, 
Riverside, Archaeological Research Unit discovered a large ceramic olla 
containing a cache of decomposed honey mesquite beans in an unnamed 
canyon in the Mecca Hills between Thermal and Painted Canyon. The olla 
was discovered in archaeological site CA-RIV-519, which was a windswept 
rock-shelter affected by years of rain and erosion. Wilke decided to 
remove the olla to prevent further damage or possible looting by 
amateur pothunters. Radiocarbon analysis of the mesquite beans 
indicated a date of 200 +/- 100 years old. This approximate time period 
corresponds with the US Land Offices Survey recording of at least five 
Cahuilla villages situated near the base of the Mecca Hills.

Determinations

    The University of California, Riverside has determined that:
     The one unassociated funerary object described in this 
notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with 
or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death 
or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American 
culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a 
lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The 
unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance 
of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or 
families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an 
individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe 
or Native Hawaiian organization.
     The one object of cultural patrimony described in this 
notice have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance 
central to the Native American group, 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 Torrez Martinez Desert Cahuilla 
Indians, 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 September 9, 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 cultural items 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 and to any other consulting parties.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

    Dated: August 1, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-17880 Filed 8-9-24; 8:45 am]
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