[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 162 (Wednesday, August 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67659-67660]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-18686]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038508; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: California Department of Parks 
and Recreation, Sacramento, 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 California Department of Parks and 
Recreation 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.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after September 20, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Leslie L. Hartzell, NAGPRA Coordinator, California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, P.O. Box 942896, Sacramento, CA 
94296-0001, telephone (916) 425-8016, 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 
California Department of Parks and Recreation, and additional 
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results 
of consultation, can be found in its inventory or related records. The 
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this 
notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Based on available information, human remains representing, at 
least, 11 individuals have been identified. The 2,361 lots of 
associated funerary objects are one lot of ammo, one lot of antenna 
fragments, one lot of antler tines, one lot of bobby pin, one lot of 
boot heels, one lot of car parts, one lot of combs, one lot of 
concrete, one lot of concrete fragments, one lot of copper fragments, 
one lot of doughnut stones, one lot of earrings, one lot of electrical 
parts, one lot of fire fractured stones, one lot of flake tools, one 
lot of hull fragments, one lot of marbles, one lot of melted glass, one 
lot of modified steatite, one lot of ornaments, one lot of pennies, one 
lot of pull tops, one lot of rivets, one lot of slag, one lot of spark 
plugs, one lot of springs, one lot of steatite, one lot of tacks, one 
lot of tin fragments, one lot of tire weights, one lot of wood, one lot 
of wrenches, two lot of washers, two lots of awls, two lots of bottle 
caps, two lots of bricks, two lots of drills, two lots of leather, two 
lots of pestles, two lots of pigments, two lots of shingle fragments, 
three lots of charmstones, three lots of ochre, four lots of asphalt, 
four lots of bullet casings, four lots of buttons, four lots of 
hammerstones, four lots of rubber fragments, five lots of baked clay, 
five lots of foil, five lots of nuts and bolts, six lots of seeds, six 
lots of unifaces, seven lots of metates, seven lots of sherds, eight 
lots of bowls, eight lots of cobbles, nine lots of charcoal, nine lots 
of nails, nine lots of wire, 10 lots of bottles, 10 lots of quartz 
crystals, 10 lots of rocks, 11 lots of ceramics, 12 lots of unknown, 13 
lots of manos, 13 lots of mineral samples, 20 lots of metal, 26 lots of 
nails, 26 lots of plastic fragments, 28 lots of steatite, 29 lots of 
bifaces, 35 lots of cores, 35 lots of glass fragments, 36 lots of bone 
tools, 39 lots of bones, 68 lots of beads, 80 lots of food remains, 85 
lots of glass vessels, 93 lots of scrapers, 166 lots of projectile 
points, 676 lots of debitage, and 680 lots of flakes.

[[Page 67660]]

    This village site and cemetery are located in Mariposa County, near 
the City of Mariposa, CA and were excavated in 1963 and 1965 by 
Columbia Junior College (CJC) students and California Youth Authority 
wards under the direction of Francis A. Riddell (California Department 
of Parks and Recreation) and Robert N. Davidson (CJC). In 1996, the 
village was once again excavated by Caltrans archaeologists as part of 
a project to widen State Route 39 and improve drainage. The collection 
was curated at California State University, Sacramento until it was 
transferred to the California Department of Parks and Recreation in 
2013.
    The age of this burial is estimated to be between 1000 and 1500 
A.D. Linguistic evidence for the Miwok occupation of the Sierra Nevada 
indicates that they came into the area from the Central Valley after 
the beginning of the Late Horizon of California prehistory, 
approximately 500 A.D. No lineal descendant has been identified. 
Geographic affiliation is consistent with the historically documented 
Southern Sierra Miwuk. The associated funerary objects are consistent 
with the period when the site would have been occupied by the Southern 
Sierra Miwuk. The history of the formation of California Indian 
rancherias in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothill regions of 
California reveal that descendants of the historical Southern Sierra 
Miwuk were ultimately dispersed to the federally recognized Miwok 
rancherias.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical 
location or acquisition history of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects described in this notice.

Determinations

    The California Department of Parks and Recreation, has determined 
that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 11 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 2,361 lots of objects described in this notice are 
reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near 
individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the 
death rite or ceremony.
     There is a connection between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Buena 
Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California; Chicken Ranch 
Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California; Northfork Rancheria of Mono 
Indians of California; Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of 
California; and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne 
Rancheria of California.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
authorized representative identified in this notice under 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with 
cultural affiliation.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after September 
20, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation 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 California 
Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible for sending a copy of 
this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations 
identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

    Dated: August 7, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-18686 Filed 8-20-24; 8:45 am]
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