Notice2023-00466
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
January 12, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of California, Riverside (UCR) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from Orange County, CA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2124-2125]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-00466]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035095; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: 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
[[Page 2125]]
University of California, Riverside (UCR) intends to repatriate certain
cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary
objects and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or
Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were
removed from Orange County, CA.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after February 13, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Megan Murphy, University of California, Riverside, 900
University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92517-5900, telephone (951) 827-6349,
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#92fff7f5f3fcbcffe7e0e2faebd2e7f1e0bcf7f6e7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d5b8b0b2b4bbfbb8a0a7a5bdac95a0b6a7fbb0b1a0">[email protected]</span></a>.
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. 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 summary or related records held by
the University of California, Riverside.
Description
In 1933, while returning from a day at Laguna Beach, Howard Wilson
and Ed Marriner, amateur artifact collectors, discovered the cranium of
one Native American individual near Coast Highway in Orange County,
where construction crews had reportedly uncovered additional human
remains. The cranium, which is referred to colloquially as the ``Laguna
Woman Skull,'' was subsequently studied at various institutions to
determine the individual's archeological age. In addition to the
cranium, a layer of Mytilus californianus shells was discovered in
association with additional human bone fragments. One of these shells
contained potential bone fragments in its hollows. In 1969, it was sent
to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) radiocarbon dating
laboratory for testing. In 2016, R.E. Taylor, the founder of the
decommissioned UCR Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, donated the UCR and
UCLA laboratories' archives and residual samples to UCR, including this
shell. A note found by UCR NAGPRA Staff on the original sample bag that
accompanied the shell reads, ``UCLA-1233B, Mytilus californianus Conrad
found in long bone of Laguna Man.'' The shell and bone fragments
yielded a radiocarbon date of >14,800 BPE but this date has been
heavily contested in the scientific literature. The one unassociated
funerary object is a Mytilus californianus Conrad shell.
In 1991, ahead of the construction of the Newport Coast Planned
Community, site CA-ORA-340 was excavated along with 37 other sites by
the ``Newport Coast Archaeological Project,'' under the direction of
archeologist Hank Koerper. This site was located on a marine terrace
overlooking Crystal Cove, in the Wishbone Hill tract of the planned
community. During the excavation of CA-ORA-340, a burial containing the
human remains of one adult and one infant was uncovered. Among the
associated funerary objects were concentrations of olivella, haliotis,
and mytilus shell beads. One of these beads, an orange Olivella shell
bead with white spots, was sent to the UCR radiocarbon dating
laboratory. In 2016, R.E. Taylor, the founder of the laboratory,
donated the collections from the decommissioned laboratory to the UCR
library, including this shell bead. Only in 2021, was the provenience
of the bead identified, when UCR NAGPRA Staff were reviewing archival
records associated with the collection. The one unassociated funerary
object is a shell bead.
UCR NAGPRA Program Staff consulted with a number of Tribes with
dealings in Orange County including the Juane[ntilde]o Band of Mission
Indians, Acjachemen Nation-Belardes, a non-federally recognized Tribe,
who recognize this area as ancestral territory. The Pechanga Band of
Indians (previously listed as Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians
of the Pechanga Reservation, California), a federally recognized Tribe,
has agreed to accept a transfer of these collections to facilitate
repatriation.
Cultural Affiliation
The cultural items 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: archeological, geographical,
historical, oral traditional, and expert opinion.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, the University of California, Riverside has determined
that:
<bullet> The two cultural items described above are reasonably
believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at
the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony and
are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed
from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the Pechanga Band
of Indians (previously listed as Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission
Indians of the Pechanga Reservation, California).
Requests for Repatriation
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in
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 February 13, 2023. 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 Tribe identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, 10.10,
and 10.14.
Dated: January 4, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-00466 Filed 1-11-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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