Notice2023-27371
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Lahontan National Fish Hatchery, Gardnerville, NV
Primary source
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Published
December 13, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Lahontan National Fish Hatchery 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. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Douglas County, NV.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 238 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86376-86377]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27371]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037057; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish and Wildlife Service, Lahontan National Fish Hatchery,
Gardnerville, NV
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 U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and
Wildlife Service, Lahontan National Fish Hatchery 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. The human remains and associated
funerary objects were removed from Douglas County, NV.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after January 12, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Patrick W. Rennaker, Archaeologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Cultural Resources Team, Columbia Pacific Northwest and
Pacific Islands (R1), and Pacific Southwest (R8), 20555 Gerda Lane,
Sherwood, OR 97140, telephone (503) 294-7490, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1c6c7d686e757f77436e7972727d77796e5c7a6b6f327b736a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="25554451574c464e7a57404b4b444e4057654352560b424a53">[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
Lahontan National Fish Hatchery. 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 inventory or related records held
by the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery.
Description
Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were
removed from Douglas County, NV. In April of 1969, Richard Messier of
the National Park Service contacted the Nevada Archaeological Service
to investigate a burial site which had been exposed during road
improvement activities. The site was situated on the crest of a hill at
the junction of Highway 395 and the Fish Hatchery access road six miles
south of Garnerville. Three distinct burial pits were visible in the
cut-bank of the hill, with human remains and groundstone present on the
slope in front of the cut-bank. University of Nevada Reno investigators
Dr. Don Fowler, Dr. Catherine Fowler, and Dr. Don Hardesty inspected
the site and determined that the likelihood of further damage was high
and that the best possible recourse at the time was to recover as much
of the disturbed material as possible. They subsequently recovered
human remains from the three burial pits and disturbed human remains
below the cut-bank. It is noted that a disk shell bead was collected
from the topsoil fill above the burial pits. No other associated grave
materials were identified at the time of excavation. National Park
Service employees also collected several human remains elements before
the Nevada Archaeological Service arrived, and these were given to the
investigators upon arrival. The Research Museum at the University of
Nevada, Reno agreed to house this material on permanent loan from the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The initial inspection noted that the first individual is probably
a young adult male between the ages of 14 and 20, the second is an
adult male, and the third is an adult but too incomplete for further
comment. The original site records indicate that one shell disc bead
was present in the fill above Burial One. Another was possibly
associated with Burial Two. The original notes indicate the beads were
removed during excavation, but nothing in the paperwork denotes that
these items were curated. No disk shell beads relating to this
assemblage could be located during the 1995, 2021, and 2023 inventory
process. In 2021, Museum staff located four manos labeled as belonging
to 26DO300 in a stack of artifacts to be rehoused. There is no record
of these objects in the Summary of Findings. It is assumed that the
manos were acquired after the original excavation and the associated
funerary objects arrived at the Museum at a later unknown date from the
Park Service employees that collected elements prior to the Nevada
Archaeological Service arrival as noted. The four associated funerary
objects are four stone manos.
Cultural Affiliation
The human remains and associated funerary objects 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: based on lifeway, oral tradition, folklore, geography,
anthropology, ethnography, archeology, and expert opinion.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The four objects described in this notice 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.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary
objects described in this notice and the Washoe Tribe of Nevada &
California (Carson Colony, Dresslerville Colony, Woodfords Community,
Stewart Community, & Washoe Ranches).
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
Responsible Official identified in 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
[[Page 86377]]
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 January 12, 2024.
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Lahontan
National Fish Hatchery 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 Lahontan National Fish Hatchery 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 10.9, 10.10,
and 10.14.
Dated: December 6, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-27371 Filed 12-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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