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 summary or related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

A total of 168 lots of cultural items have been requested for repatriation. Between 1899 and 1962, 168 lots of cultural items were removed from multiple locations in Sacramento County, California by various individuals and later accessioned into the University of California, Berkeley's Museum of Anthropology (now known as Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology) between 1904 and 1962.

Of the cultural items requested, 123 lots are unassociated funerary ( printed page 17955) belongings removed from CA-SAC-47, CA-SAC-92, CA-SAC-101, CA-SAC-132, CA-SAC-207, Ledbedder Mound, Franklin, unknown burial areas, and the Sacramento River. The unassociated funerary belongings include beads, cups, charmstones, projectile points, stone tools, lithics, sinkers, worked bone, ornaments, pendants, faunal remains, pipes, and ground stone.

Of the cultural items requested, 45 lots are objects of cultural patrimony removed from CA-SAC-137, CA-SAC-142, CA-SAC-143, Linda Creek, Loupe Ranch, and Sylvan. The objects of cultural patrimony include ground stone, mullers, hammerstones, baked clay, awls, lithics, scrapers, and faunal remains.

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.

Determinations

The University of California, Berkeley has determined that:

• The 123 unassociated funerary objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
• The 45 objects of cultural patrimony described in this notice have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native American group, including any constituent sub-group (such as a band, clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other subdivision), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
• There is a reasonable connection between the cultural items described in this notice and the Wilton Rancheria, California.

Requests for Repatriation

Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under 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 May 30, 2025. 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 cultural items 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 and to any other consulting parties.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.

90 FR 17954