Notice2025-06638
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, 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
April 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Turtle Bay Exploration Park (TBEP) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 74 (Friday, April 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 74 (Friday, April 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16543-16544]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-06638]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039948; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Turtle Bay Exploration Park,
Redding, 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 Turtle Bay Exploration Park (TBEP)
intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition
of objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation
with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on
or after May 19, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Julia Cronin, Turtle Bay Exploration Park, 844 Sundial
Bridge Drive, Redding, CA 96001, telephone (530) 242-3191, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c5afa6b7aaabacab85b1b0b7b1a9a0a7a4bcebaab7a2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5a303928353433341a2e2f282e363f383b237435283d">[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 Turtle
Bay Exploration Park, and additional information on the determinations
in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in
the summary or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
A total of 113 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The 113 objects of cultural patrimony include 12 stone tools and stone
tool fragments, three bone needles, nine turtle shell fragments, 88
pieces of animal bone fragments, and one lot of fish bones.
Museum documentation states these items were found or excavated by
Jim Dotta near Big Lake or McArthur in Shasta County in northern
California. Though these items share a site number with which they are
all associated, there is no archaeological report on file at the
[[Page 16544]]
Museum. Mr. Dotta estimated the manos and metate to be 2,000 years old.
There is no date information for the remaining items. There is no
indication any of the items are from a burial context. Mr. Dotta was
usually meticulous about noting the presence or absence of a burial in
relation to artifacts. However, this collection came to the Redding
Museum after his death and records may be incomplete. The areas of Big
Lake and McArthur have been Ajumawi territory since time immemorial.
The Ajumawi Band is one of eleven autonomous bands of the Pit River
Tribe (includes XL Ranch, Big Bend, Likely, Lookout, Montgomery Creek,
and Roaring Creek Rancherias).
James ``Jim'' Dotta was a local instructor at Shasta Community
College in Redding, CA, a professional archaeologist, and heavily
involved in the Redding Museum and Art Center (TBEP's predecessor
institution). He was also an avid collector of books, historical
objects, artworks, and Indigenous Belongings. Mr. Dotta donated the
metate and two manos to the Museum in 1979. The remaining items were
donated in 1982 by his family after Mr. Dotta passed away. Turtle Bay
Exploration Park does not treat Indigenous Belongings with hazardous
materials. However, it is not documented whether these items received
treatment prior to entering the care of the Redding Museum and Art
Center.
Determinations
Turtle Bay Exploration Park has determined that:
<bullet> The 113 objects of cultural patrimony described in this
notice have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance
central to the Native American group, including any constituent sub-
group (such as a band, clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other
subdivision), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of
an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
<bullet> There is a reasonable connection between the cultural
items described in this notice and the Pit River Tribe, California
(includes XL Ranch, Big Bend, Likely, Lookout, Montgomery Creek, and
Roaring Creek Rancherias).
Requests for Repatriation
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items
in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified
in this notice under 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 May 19, 2025. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, Turtle Bay Exploration Park 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 Turtle Bay Exploration Park is
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and
Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and to any
other consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.
Dated: April 8, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-06638 Filed 4-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 18, 2025.
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