Notice2025-18580
Notice of Intended Repatriation: University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, 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
September 25, 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 184 (Thursday, September 25, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 184 (Thursday, September 25, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46248-46249]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-18580]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6546; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041133; 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 October 27, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Alexandra Lucas, Repatriation
Coordinator, Government and Community Relations, Office of the
Chancellor. University of California, Berkeley, 200 California Hall,
Berkeley, CA 94720, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#650b040215170448100607250700170e0009001c4b000110"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9df3fcfaedeffcb0e8feffddfff8eff6f8f1f8e4b3f8f9e8">[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, 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 12 cultural items in the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of
Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley have been
requested for repatriation.
In June 1948, Clement W. Meighan via the University of California
Archaeological Survey removed 10 lots of unassociated funerary objects
from CA-RIV-9 and two lots of objects of cultural patrimony from Toro
Canyon in Riverside County, California. The 10 lots of unassociated
funerary objects include worked stone, pottery, stone tools, and faunal
remains. The 2 lots of objects of cultural patrimony include pottery.
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 10 lots of 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 2 lots of 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 connection between the cultural items described
in this notice and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians,
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
[[Page 46249]]
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 October 27, 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: September 11, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-18580 Filed 9-24-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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