2023-25209. Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Sutter County Museum, Yuba City, CA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Sutter County Museum intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of either unassociated funerary objects or objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from Sutter County and Yuba County, CA.

DATES:

Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on or after December 15, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Molly Bloom, Sutter County Museum, 1333 Butte House Road, Yuba City, CA 95993, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

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 Sutter County Museum. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records held by the Sutter County Museum.

Description

The 115 lots of cultural items were removed from Sutter County and Yuba County, CA. The 72 lots of unassociated funerary objects are 10 lots of bead objects, 13 lots of bone objects, 27 lots of modified stone objects, 20 lots of projectile points, one lot of shell objects, and one lot of wood objects. The 43 lots of objects of cultural patrimony are 39 lots of modified stone objects and four lots of projectile points.

Cultural Affiliation

The cultural items in this notice are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological information, archeological information, oral tradition, and expert opinion in the form of Native American traditional knowledge.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the Sutter County Museum has determined that:

• The 72 cultural items described above are reasonably believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony and are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from a
• The 43 cultural items described above have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native American group or culture itself, rather than property owned by an individual.
• There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the cultural items and the United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California.

Requests for Repatriation

Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 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 December 15, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Sutter County Museum 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 Sutter County Museum is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.8, 10.10, and 10.14.

Dated: November 8, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.