2023-19962. Notice of Inventory Completion: University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of California, Riverside (UCR) 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. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Riverside in Riverside County, CA.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after October 16, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Megan Murphy, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92517–5900, 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 University of California, Riverside. 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 inventory or related records held by the University of California, Riverside.

Description

Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from Riverside, CA. In 1980, members of the UCR Archaeological Research Unit and the Archaeological Resource Management Corporation conducted excavations ahead of the construction of a flood channel in the La Quinta area of the Central Coachella Valley. The sites excavated included CA–RIV–1180, CA–RIV–119, CA–RIV–158, CA–RIV–1174, CA–RIV–1770, and CA–RIV–1838. CA–RIV–1180, or the La Quinta Cove Site, is an area well-known to contain ancestral Cahuilla cremation burials. The collections associated with the excavations were subsequently curated by the UCR Archaeological Curation Unit. In 2021, during analysis of the faunal skeletal remains in the collections, human remains were identified. Subsequent consultation with tribal representatives from multiple Cahuilla Bands resulted in the identification of funerary objects within the same collection. The 10 associated funerary objects are one lot consisting of ceramics, one lot consisting of lithics, one lot consisting of metal, one lot consisting of shell beads, one lot consisting of animal bones, one lot consisting of botanical material, one lot consisting of fire-altered rock, one lot consisting of geological materials, one lot consisting of unmodified shells, and one lot consisting of mineralogical objects.

Cultural Affiliation

The human remains and associated funerary objects 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, biological, geographical, historical, oral traditional, and expert tribal opinion.

Determinations

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

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
• The 10 lots of objects described in this notice 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.
• There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, California.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 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 a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after October 16, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the University of California, Riverside 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 University of California, Riverside 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 10.9, 10.10, and 10.14.

Dated: September 8, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.