2023-12859. Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the California State University, Sacramento intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of objects of cultural patrimony and a certain cultural item that meets the definition of an unassociated funerary object, and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The cultural items were removed from Stanislaus County, Tuolumne County, and the Northern Sierra foothills, CA.

DATES:

Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on or after July 17, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Dr. Dianne Hyson, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies, California State University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street Sacramento, CA 95819, 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 California State University, Sacramento. 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 California State University, Sacramento.

Description

At unknown dates, 29 cultural items were removed from multiple locations in Stanislaus County, Tuolumne County, and the Northern Sierra foothills, CA. These items were removed from Tulloch Cave, Sonora, and Etnazum Cave in Tuolumne County; unknown locations near La Grange and along Hood Creek in Stanislaus County; and unknown locations in the Sierra foothills of Northern California. Two items from Sonora were donated to the Anthropology Museum at California State University, Sacramento in the 1970s. How or when the other 27 items came to California State University, Sacramento is unknown. The 28 objects of cultural patrimony consist of seed bead necklaces, flaked stones, groundstones, thermally altered rocks, faunal remains, and floral remains. The one unassociated funerary object is a shell ornament.

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, archeological, geographical, historical, kinship, linguistic, oral, traditional, and expert opinion.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, the California State University, Sacramento has determined that:

• The one cultural item described above is 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 is believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
• The 28 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 Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne 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 July 17, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, California State University, Sacramento 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. California State University, Sacramento is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe 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: June 6, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.