Notice2025-23537
Notice of Intended Repatriation: California Department of Transportation, Fresno, 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
December 22, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) 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 243 (Monday, December 22, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 243 (Monday, December 22, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59854-59855]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23537]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6804; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041626; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Intended Repatriation: California Department of
Transportation, Fresno, 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), California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) 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 January 21, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Mandy Macias or Aubrie Morlet,
California Department of Transportation, District 6, 1352 W Olive
Avenue, Fresno, CA 93728, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#85e8e4ebe1fcabe8e4e6ece4f6c5e1eaf1abe6e4abe2eaf3"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cfa2aea1abb6e1a2aeaca6aebc8faba0bbe1acaee1a8a0b9">[email protected]</span></a> or
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#46273324342f23682b29342a23320622293268252768212930"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="204155425249450e4d4f524c455460444f540e43410e474f56">[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
Caltrans, and
[[Page 59855]]
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 175 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
The 175 catalog numbers representing objects of cultural patrimony are
ecofacts (faunal bone), flaked stone, and miscellaneous lithics. CA-
KER-3558 and CA-KER-3559 are located in Kern County, California, near
State Route 58. The collection is the result of the 1993 Archaeological
Testing and Evaluation of CA-KER-3558 and CA-KER-3559, Fremont Valley,
for the Proposed Mojave Bypass Project (EA 243400). The collection is
controlled by Caltrans and curated at The University of California,
Riverside (UCR), as Accession #225. The initial catalog recorded 76
catalog numbers, while the 2025 catalog verification confirmed 175
catalog numbers, all of which are present. Based on the information
available and the results of consultation, cultural affiliation is
clearly identified by the information available about the objects of
cultural patrimony described in this notice. There are no known/
documented potentially hazardous substances used to treat any of the
cultural items.
Determinations
The Caltrans has determined that:
<bullet> The 175 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 Tejon Indian Tribe.
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 January 21, 2026. If competing requests for
repatriation are received, Caltrans 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 Caltrans 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: December 11, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23537 Filed 12-19-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 22, 2025.
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