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

Abstract of Information Available

Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been identified. No associated funerary objects are present.

In September of 1985, human remains representing one adult Native American individual, represented by approximately 15 human bone fragments (Accession #: UA-2022-001 Catalogue #: 6111 (UCR-2125)), were recovered during the excavation of a swimming pool at a private residence in Beverly Hills. The human remains were removed by Detective Zoeller of the Beverly Hills Police Department and brought to Dr. Judy Suchey, forensic anthropologist at CSU Fullerton, for analysis. Dr. Suchey examined the remains and believed that they likely represented a prehistoric individual, rather than a modern forensics case. Dr. Suchey sent the remains to the UCR Radiocarbon Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Ervin Taylor to determine an age. According to laboratory records the individual was approximately 2150 years old and therefore was confirmed to be a Native American ancestor. Dr. Taylor, for reasons unknown, kept the remains and did not alert anyone at UCR of the presence of Native American ancestral remains on campus, despite being asked by campus administration in the early 2000s about possible human remains from the radiocarbon laboratory.

In 2022, Megan Murphy, UCR Repatriation Coordinator, discovered the remains along with a large amount of other hidden materials in an off-campus storage facility that had been used by the late Dr. Taylor to conceal the samples he retained from the laboratory. Megan Murphy contacted Megan Lonski, CSU Fullerton NAGPRA Repatriation Coordinator, who confirmed that no other remains from said individual were at the CSUF campus. Murphy and Lonski then contacted the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office to determine if any additional remains could be present at their facility. Investigators with the LA Medical Examiner's office confirmed that they could not locate any additional remains. The absence of any known remains from said individual at other locations along with the comparison of the photographs of the burial compared with the remains present at UCR suggest that the entire individual was sent by Dr. Suchey to UCR for radiocarbon dating. Due to the individual being housed at UCR, the notice and subsequent repatriation will be handled by UCR. No known funerary objects were found with the remains and no known individual could be identified.

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 described in this notice.

Determinations

The University of California has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of, at minimum, one individual of Native American ancestry.
• There is a connection between the human remains described in this notice and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, California and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California. ( printed page 57377)

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with cultural affiliation.

Repatriation of the human remains described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after October 9, 2026. 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 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 Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and any other consulting parties.

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

91 FR 57376