Notice2026-00460
Notice of Intended Repatriation: Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, CA
Primary source
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Published
January 13, 2026
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 91 Issue 8 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 13, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1336-1337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00460]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6800; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041746; 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 February 12, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the
cultural items in this notice to Julia Cronin, Turtle Bay Exploration
Park, 844 Sundial Bridge Drive, Redding, CA 96001, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#cfa5acbda0a1a6a18fbbbabdbba3aaadaeb6e1a0bda8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="cfa5acbda0a1a6a18fbbbabdbba3aaadaeb6e1a0bda8">[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 146 cultural items have been requested for repatriation.
These objects of cultural patrimony include 99 baskets, 31
archaeological objects, 12 beaded items, two lots of arrows, one bow,
and one book. All items have been appraised, reviewed by scholars, and
discussed in consultation. They originate from or are attributable to
the Pit River Tribe, including the Ajumawi or Atsugewi (two of the
eleven autonomous bands of the Pit River Tribe), based on
documentation, maker attribution, or archaeological context.
Archaeological items derive solely from Shasta and Lassen Counties,
within the homelands of the Pit River Tribe.
Between 1963 and 2019, the Redding Museum of Art and History
(RMAH), TBEP's predecessor, acquired a large basketry collection
through donations and purchases, reflecting a long-standing
institutional focus on Northern California Indian baskets. In 1963,
RMAH purchased four baskets from Fred Taber, whose father operated an
antique shop in Shasta County and collected Indigenous belongings. That
year, Jean Beauchamp donated a cooking basket from the Royal T. Sprague
Collection, and in 1965, Eleanor Parkin donated a bottle basket.
Carolyn Bond donated three basket fragments in 1974, a cradle basket
toy in 1975, 10 baskets in 2014 from the Fred Taber, Elizabeth Burnham,
and Essie Alford Collections, and two miniature baskets in 2017,
including one made by Lucinda Hunt of Shasta County. In 1975, RMAH
purchased a cradle basket from Mr. and Mrs. Argo, originally collected
by Minnie Miranda Hart Wellman. In 1976, RMAH purchased three baskets
from Don Boyd, including
[[Page 1337]]
a cradle basket made by Selina LaMar. That year, Ruth Lemm Martin
donated a footed compote basket documented as a gift to Louisa Lemm
from a Native employee.
Additional acquisitions include two baskets from Earl ``Butch''
Wheeler in 1977 (one purchased, one donated); one purchased from the
Alice B. Davis Collection in 1978; one donated by Jim Dotta in 1979;
and one purchased from Cora Wilson in 1980 made by Boquita Wilson.
Between 1981 and 1982, RMAH purchased three baskets from V. Lovell, six
from Thelma Shiplet, and one from Bill Kemp, with makers including
Boquita Wilson and Selina LaMar. Between 1985 and 2000, RMAH/TBEP
acquired 14 baskets from the James Collection (ten purchased, four
donated), assembled by Florence Payne James and later inherited by
Gertrude Kelly, as well as seven baskets donated by the Yocum family,
collected by William and Mary Yocum of Butte County. Later acquisitions
include one basket donated by Dena Enloe; two donated by Robert and
Mabel Smith from the 1920s collection of Ada Smith Chaplin; 16 baskets
from Kenneth Walker and later Blair (Walker) and Gerald Stratford; one
donated by Barbara G. Anderson; one donated by Jane Bonner; nine
donated by Bea Roberts from the pre-1920s Baum Collection; three
donated by Jack Hauenstein; and one basket purchased from James
Flaxbeard. In 1992, through a collections transfer agreement with the
Shasta Historical Society, RMAH assumed stewardship of additional
baskets, including a storage basket donated by Theresa Barbera Poore,
and two undocumented baskets identified during the transfer.
RMAH acquired archaeological items through donations between 1976
and 1984. In 1976, Don Boyd donated one lot of projectile points and an
obsidian biface, all surface finds or excavated items. In 1978, Jim
Dotta donated a black slate atlatl weight from Eagle Lake (surface
find). Following his passing in 1982, Dotta's family donated additional
items from Montgomery Creek, including projectile point fragments,
debitage, a glass fragment, and an obsidian fragment from McArthur, all
surface finds or excavated items. Lona E. Hampe donated 18 projectile
points, one scraper, and one stone tool, all surface finds, from
Crystal Lake Hatchery and Eagle Lake. Additional archaeological objects
include a metate donated by Herbert Gilman in 1981 from a surface find
near Bieber, an abalone pendant donated by Shirley Evans in 1983 from a
surface find on the Pit River, and a mortar found near Hat Creek around
1900 and donated in 1984.
Beaded items and other belongings include a miniature beaded
moccasin donated by Don Boyd in 1976, a beaded necklace donated by Mary
V. White in 1979, and three beaded items donated by LaDiem Clineschmidt
in 1985 (a purse, pant strip, and belt). All are traceable to the
Ajumawi band or Pit River Tribe. In 2014, Carolyn Bond donated five
Ajumawi beaded items, three from Little Valley makers Connie Brown and
Agnes McClellan, acquired from the Essie Alford Collection. Bond later
donated two additional beaded watch fobs. A previous collections
transfer with the Shasta Historical Society included stewardship of a
beaded belt and a beaded watch fob, both of Pit River origin, donated
by an individual with the surname Zetsche.
Additional belongings include a bow and two lots of arrows made by
Henry Wool, a Pit River man, given to Baird Dobrowsky by Ollie Cathcart
of the Bruce family and donated in 1980. In 1981, the City of Redding
purchased, Indian Tales by Jaime DeAngulo, for RMAH's reference
library.
Turtle Bay Exploration Park does not treat Indigenous belongings
with hazardous materials. However, prior treatment documentation does
not exist for items before entering the Redding Museum of Art and
History.
Determinations
Turtle Bay Exploration Park has determined that:
<bullet> The 146 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 February 12, 2026. 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: January 5, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-00460 Filed 1-12-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on January 13, 2026.
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