[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 50 (Monday, March 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12353-12354]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-04198]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039422; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Us, San Diego, 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 Museum of Us 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 April 16, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Carmen Mosley, NAGPRA Repatriation Manager, Museum of Us, 
1350 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101, telephone (619) 239-
2001 Ext. 42, 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 
Museum of Us, and additional information on the determinations in this 
notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the 
inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not 
responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Based on the information available, human remains representing, at 
least, two individuals have been reasonably identified. The 3,081 
associated funerary objects are from seven sites.
    The 359 associated funerary objects removed from Hollister Mound 
(CV-5; CA-SAC-21) in Sacramento County, CA include one lot of 
carbonized textile and basketry material, one lot of carbonized pine 
nut seeds, one lot of carbonized vegetal material, one lot of screened 
burial material, three red ochre lumps, five charmstone fragments, one 
grooved stone, one stone fragment, one stone discoidal, three baked 
clay objects, one incised bird bone tube, 338 Haliotis ornament pieces, 
one pottery sherd, and one lot of mixed beads.
    Human remains representing, at least, one individual, and 916 
associated funerary objects removed from Johnson Mound (CV-8; CA-SAC-6) 
in Sacramento County, CA include 280 baked clay objects, 113 projectile 
points, 25 chipped stone implements, five slate ornaments, two 
miniature stone dishes, two charmstones, two stone ear plugs, six 
steatite pipes and fragments, one small mortar, one stone discoidal, 
one grinding slab, three red ochre lumps, three miscellaneous stones, 
one lot of carbonized basketry and cordage, 12 strings of Olivella 
beads, 27 loose mixed shell beads, four strings of stone beads, six 
loose glass trade beads, three loose stone beads, one small lot of 
mixed loose beads, 334 Haliotis ornaments pieces, one perforated clam 
shell blank, three bipointed bone implements, seven incised bird bone 
fragments, 34 fish bone gorges, 12 faunal bone fragments, four 
miscellaneous stones, 19 faunal bone awls and awl fragments, one antler 
implement, one lot of cremation material, one lot of carbonized textile 
material, and one lot of carbonized seeds.
    The 69 associated funerary objects removed from Calhoun Mound (CV-
9; CA-SAC-113) in Sacramento County, CA include three strings of clam 
shell beads, 29 Haliotis ornaments, three bone implements, three 
incised bird bone tubes, 15 projectile points, two obsidian Stockton 
Curves, three stone discoidals, two mineral specimens, eight baked clay 
objects, and one lot of loose carbonized seeds.
    The 28 associated funerary objects removed from Eichenberger Mound 
(CV-19; CA-SAC-122) in Sacramento County, CA include 24 Haliotis 
ornaments, three steatite pipes, and one hatband decorated with 
Olivella shell beads.
    The 102 associated funerary objects removed from Woodward/Drescher 
Mound (CV-20; CA-SAC-109) in Sacramento County, CA include 81 Haliotis 
ornaments, one perforated bone implement, one bone disc bead, five bird 
bone beads, one lot miscellaneous burial material, three smooth 
pebbles, two strings of clam shell disc beads, one mixed lot of faunal 
bone and shell beads, two baked clay objects, two quartz crystals, one 
bone awl, one bone tube, and one stone discoidal fragment.
    The three associated funerary objects removed from Booth Mound (CV-
25; CA-SAC-126) in Sacramento County, CA include three strings of 
Olivella beads.
    Human remains representing, at least, one individual, and 1,604 
associated funerary objects removed from CV-31, Central Valley, CA 
include 211 projectile points, seven obsidian knives, one lot of 
obsidian chips and flakes, 213 chipped stones, 225 Haliotis ornaments, 
six lots of miscellaneous mixed material, 39 baked clay objects, one 
clay pipe liner, 10 steatite pipe fragments, 182 strings of glass 
beads, 25 faunal bone beads, four faunal bone whistles, nine strings of 
Olivella beads, four strings of stone beads, 12 loose stone beads, nine 
strings of clam shell beads, one Haliotis disc bead, one red ochre 
piece, 500 loose Olivella beads, 66 obsidian bangles, three burial 
accumulations, one cremation accumulation, three bone awls, two flat 
bone implements, one small lot of work faunal bone, 46 containers of 
glass beads, three mammalian vertebrae, two jars of historic beads, 
five bird bone tubes, one lot of carbonized acorns, one grinding slab, 
two lots of mixed material beads, one lot of mixed shell ornaments, one 
lot of carbonized vegetal material, one lot of mixed stones, three lots 
of carbonized cordage and textile material, one lot of carded Haliotis 
ornaments, and one lot of carded shell money.
    Between 1930 and 1936, the ancestral remains and 3,081 associated 
funerary objects were removed by Henry Gibbs, a private collector and 
looter. In 1937, Paul A. Walker purchased Gibbs' Central Valley, 
California archeological collection. Walker was an amateur archeologist 
and collector who worked by himself and with other amateur 
archeologists, and in collaboration with the University of California 
and Sacramento Junior College. Over the course of his life, Walker 
amassed an extensive archeological collection from California's Central 
Valley and smaller collections from Northern and Southern California, 
and outside of California. In 1968, Walker's private archeological 
collection was acquired by the San Diego Museum of Man (now Museum of 
Us) through a purchase/donation transaction with Walker's widow, Bessie 
B. Walker.

Cultural Affiliation

    Based on the information available and the results of consultation, 
cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available 
about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in 
this notice.

Determinations

    The Museum of Us has determined that:

[[Page 12354]]

     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of two individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 3,081 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 Ione Band 
of Miwok Indians of California and the Wilton Rancheria, 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 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 April 16, 2025. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the Museum of Us 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 Museum of Us 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: January 28, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-04198 Filed 3-14-25; 8:45 am]
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