Notice2026-08759
Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Us, San Diego, CA
Primary source
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Published
May 5, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Museum of Us has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 86 (Tuesday, May 5, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24278-24279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-08759]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N7113; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042682; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Museum of Us, San Diego, 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 Museum of Us has completed an inventory
of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined
that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and
associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations in this notice.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after June 4, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Carmen Mosley,
Associate Director of Repatriation, Museum of Us, 1350 El Prado, Balboa
Park, San Diego, CA 92101, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#17747a78647b726e577a626472627a7871626439786570"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="40232d2f332c2539002d353325352d2f2635336e2f3227">[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
Museum of Us, and additional information on the determinations in this
notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in its
inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not
responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, three individuals have been
identified. The 1,511 associated funerary objects are from two
archaeological sites.
Human remains representing, at least, one individual, and 953
associated funerary objects removed from Vernon Mound (CV-1; CA-SUT-11)
in Sutter County, CA include 10 baked clay objects, 50 faunal bone
awls, 28 faunal bone beads, nine faunal bone fragments, 29 faunal bone
implements and fragments, 24 faunal bone ornaments, two faunal bone
tubes, eight faunal bone whistles and fragments, one charmstone, one
groundstone fragment, 38 Haliotis disc beads, 681 Haliotis ornaments,
three pieces of mineral material, three faunal bone needles, three
miscellaneous faunal bone fragments, 15 projectile points, 13 strings
of shell beads, 10 strings of stone beads, one lot of mixed shell and
stone beads, one shell button, two lots of loose clam shell blanks, one
stone dish fragment, three stone ear plugs, 10 stone pendants, and
seven carbonized textile fragments.
Human remains representing, at least, one individual, and 539
associated funerary objects from Bennet Mound (CV-6; CA-SAC-16) in
Sacramento County, include six strings of shell beads, three strings of
mixed shell and stone beads, 18 strings of stone beads, one string of
shell bead blanks, seven mortars, eight pestles, two net weights, 12
stone discs, 15 bone awls, 97 Haliotis ornaments, two steatite pipes,
three steatite pipe fragments, 141 projectile
[[Page 24279]]
points, one stockton curve, five bipointed bone implements, one pottery
sherd, six obsidian blades, one blade, two ochre pieces, five quartz
crystals, 29 loose stone beads, 11 loose bone beads, 18 loose glass
beads, 16 stone pendants, 14 stone implements, one groundstone slab, 21
miscellaneous stone pieces, one hammerstone, eight clam shell blanks,
nine bone whistles, one shell bead, one shell pendant, two stone ear
plugs, one stone drill, three stone pebbles, eight fish gorges, one
claw pendant, one clay bird effigy, one groundstone point, one bone
ornament, two miscellaneous obsidian pieces, one bone fragment, one
endscraper, two historic porcelain and brass pieces, one lot of glass
trade beads, one lot mixed stone and glass beads, one lot loose shell
beads, one lot mixed shell and stone beads, 15 charmstones, 25 baked
clay objects, two lots of mixed shell beads and flora, one lot of
carbonized seeds, one lot of carbonized acorns, and one lot of cache
material.
Human remains representing, at least, one individual, and 19
associated funerary objects removed from Joe Mound (CV-26; CA-SAC-31)
in Sacramento County, CA include one baked clay object, three
projectile points, one lot of carbonized textile material, five lots of
glass trade beads, one lot of miscellaneous bead material, one buckeye
nut, one lot of screening material, two historic metal tableware
fragments, and four European clay pipe fragments.
Between 1930 and 1936, the ancestral remains and 1,511 associated
funerary objects were removed by Henry Gibbs, a private collector and
looter. In 1937, Paul A. Walker purchased Gibbs' Central Valley,
California archeological collection. Walker was an amateur archeologist
and collector who worked by himself and with other amateur
archeologists, and in collaboration with the University of California
and Sacramento Junior College. Over the course of his life, Walker
amassed an extensive archeological collection from California's Central
Valley and smaller collections from Northern and Southern California,
and outside of California. In 1968, Walker's private archeological
collection was acquired by the San Diego Museum of Man (now Museum of
Us) through a purchase/donation transaction with Walker's widow, Bessie
B. Walker.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available
about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in
this notice.
Determinations
The Museum of Us has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 1,511 objects described in this notice are reasonably
believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual
human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite
or ceremony.
<bullet> There is a connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Shingle
Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona
Tract), California.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
authorized representative identified in this notice under ADDRESSES.
Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:
1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice.
2. 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after June 4,
2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Museum
of Us must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to
repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not
competing requests. The Museum of Us is responsible for sending a copy
of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations
identified in this notice and any other consulting parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: April 27, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-08759 Filed 5-4-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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