Notice of Inventory Completion: University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, 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 Berkeley 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 October 21, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Alexandra Lucas, Repatriation Coordinator, Government and Community Relations (Chancellor's Office), University of California, Berkeley, 200 California Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, telephone (510) 570-0964, email nagpra-ucb@berkeley.edu.

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, Berkeley and additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

In the Spring of 1986, Polly Quick and the University of California, Berkeley Anthropology Field Class (133) removed at minimum, 101 ancestors from CA-SAC-42, also known as Souza Mound. The 10 associated funerary objects are nine lots consisting of faunal remains, ground stone, beads, flaked and chipped stone, soil, and shell and one mortar fragment. The ancestors and associated funerary objects were accessioned by the Lowie Museum (today the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology) in 1988. One associated funerary object was removed by R.F. Heizer and the University of California, Berkeley S197 Anthropology class in July 1949 and appropriated by the University of California, Berkeley in 1949. The associated funerary object is a mortar fragment.

Collections and collection spaces at the Phoebe A Hearst Museum of Anthropology were treated with substances for preservation and pest control, some potentially hazardous. No records have been found to date at the Museum to indicate whether or not chemicals or natural substances were used prior to 1960.

Cultural Affiliation

Based on the information available and the results of consultation, cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical location or acquisition history of the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice.

Determinations

The University of California, Berkeley has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 101 individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The 10 lots of 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.
• There is a reasonable connection between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California; Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian Community of the Colusa Rancheria, California; Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California; Guidiville Rancheria of California; Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California; Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract), California; Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California; United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California; Wilton Rancheria, California; and the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, 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 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 21, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the University of California, Berkeley 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, Berkeley 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 10.10.

[FR Doc. 2024-21531 Filed 9-19-24; 8:45 am]

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