Notice2024-04088
Notice of Inventory Completion: 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
February 28, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of California, Riverside has completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were removed from Ventura, CA.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 40 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14701-14702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04088]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037473; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: 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 has
completed an inventory of human remains and has determined that there
is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and Indian Tribes
or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains were
removed from Ventura, CA.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains in this notice may occur on or
after March 29, 2024.
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#503d3537313e7e3d2522203829102533227e353425"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bbd6dedcdad595d6cec9cbd3c2fbced8c995dedfce">[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 inventory or related records held
by the University of California, Riverside.
Description
Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed
from Ventura County, CA. The cranium of 1 young adult female Native
American individual was discovered in a cave in Ventura County by a
group of young boys participating in the ``Trailfinders'' camp. The
cranium was housed at the University of California James San Jacinto
Mountain Natural Reserve in a cabinet with other mammal crania since
its founding in 1966 by Harry James who was also the founder of
Trailfinders. The cabinet and its contents were reportedly given to the
reserve by the Department of Biology at the University of California,
Riverside (UCR). Through conversations with previous reserve directors,
UCR NAGPRA Staff found that there was an oral history among individuals
(now in their 80s and 90s) who participated in the Trailfinders
organization about how the cranium was discovered. Former director of
the James Reserve, Michael Hamilton, indicated that he was told by
former Trailfinders that the cranium was found in a cave in Ventura
County during a hike. Through speaking with other former members, UCR
NAGPRA Staff discovered that the Trailfinders owned property on Sespe
Creek in Ventura County north of Filmore where they often had weekend
camping trips. They typically hiked upstream (north) on Sespe Creek
because that was the only direction they could go for a hike. Living
Trailfinders who have spoken with UCR NAGPRA Staff suggested that it is
likely that the cranium was found in the Sespe Creek drainage in
Ventura County during one such hike.
Additional post-cranial human remains representing one young adult
female Native American individual were reported by the University of
California, Riverside's Department of Evolution Ecology & Organismal
Biology (EEOB) to the UCR NAGPRA Program. The department staff
indicated that the human remains, which were stored in a cardboard box
labeled ``Indian Bones'', had been in the department since at least
before the 1990s. Despite an exhaustive attempt to contact previous
professors and department chairs, no information was found by the
NAGPRA Program Staff to indicate how the human remains became part of
the department's collections. The cabinet which the human remains were
stored in contained the post-cranial remains of other vertebrate
mammals. Examination of the human remains by an osteologist determined
that there were also a few
[[Page 14702]]
large sea mammal bones mixed with the human remains and were likely
from the same archeological context. Furthermore, osteological analysis
suggested the post cranial remains could represent the same individual
as the crania at the James San Jacinto Mountain Natural Reserve. No
associated funerary objects are present.
Cultural Affiliation
The human remains 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: anthropological information,
archeological information, biological information, geographical
information, historical information, oral tradition, 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 human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the human remains described in this notice
and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez
Reservation, California.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 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 in this notice to a requestor may
occur on or after March 29, 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 human remains 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.
This notice was submitted before the effective date of the revised
regulations (88 FR 86452, December 13, 2023, effective January 12,
2024). As the notice conforms to the mandatory format of the Federal
Register and includes the required information, the National Park
Service is publishing this notice as submitted.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: February 20, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-04088 Filed 2-27-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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