Notice2025-07429

Notice of Intended Repatriation: University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Primary source

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Published
April 30, 2025

Issuing agencies

Interior DepartmentNational Park Service

Abstract

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of California, Berkeley intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and/or 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 82 (Wednesday, April 30, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 82 (Wednesday, April 30, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17954-17955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07429]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0040014; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intended Repatriation: University of California, 
Berkeley, Berkeley, 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, Berkeley 
intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition 
of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and/or 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 30, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Alexandra Lucas, University of California, Berkeley, 200 
California Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, telephone (510) 570-0964, email 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#751b141205071458001617351710071e1019100c5b101100"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5d333c3a2d2f3c70283e3f1d3f382f363831382473383928">[email&#160;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, Berkeley, 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 168 lots of cultural items have been requested for 
repatriation. Between 1899 and 1962, 168 lots of cultural items were 
removed from multiple locations in Sacramento County, California by 
various individuals and later accessioned into the University of 
California, Berkeley's Museum of Anthropology (now known as Phoebe A. 
Hearst Museum of Anthropology) between 1904 and 1962.
    Of the cultural items requested, 123 lots are unassociated funerary

[[Page 17955]]

belongings removed from CA-SAC-47, CA-SAC-92, CA-SAC-101, CA-SAC-132, 
CA-SAC-207, Ledbedder Mound, Franklin, unknown burial areas, and the 
Sacramento River. The unassociated funerary belongings include beads, 
cups, charmstones, projectile points, stone tools, lithics, sinkers, 
worked bone, ornaments, pendants, faunal remains, pipes, and ground 
stone.
    Of the cultural items requested, 45 lots are objects of cultural 
patrimony removed from CA-SAC-137, CA-SAC-142, CA-SAC-143, Linda Creek, 
Loupe Ranch, and Sylvan. The objects of cultural patrimony include 
ground stone, mullers, hammerstones, baked clay, awls, lithics, 
scrapers, and faunal remains.
    Collections and collection spaces at the Phoebe A Hearst Museum of 
Anthropology were treated with substances for preservation and pest 
control, some potentially hazardous. No records have been found to date 
at the Museum to indicate whether or not chemicals or natural 
substances were used prior to 1960.

Determinations

    The University of California, Berkeley has determined that:
    <bullet> The 123 unassociated funerary objects described in this 
notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with 
or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death 
or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American 
culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a 
lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The 
unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance 
of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or 
families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an 
individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe 
or Native Hawaiian organization.
    <bullet> The 45 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 Wilton Rancheria, California.

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 30, 2025. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, the University of California, Berkeley 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, Berkeley 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 15, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-07429 Filed 4-29-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on April 30, 2025.

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