67356 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 188 / Friday, September 29, 2023 / Notices 

Dated: September 25, 2023. 

Melanie O’Brien, 

Manager, National NAGPRA Program. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21385 Filed 9–28–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–52–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[NPS–WASO–NAGPRA–NPS0036671; 

PPWOCRADN0–PCU00RP14.R50000] 

Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. 

Department of the Interior, National 

Park Service, Sequoia and Kings 

Canyon National Parks, Three Rivers, 

CA 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native 

American Graves Protection and 

Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, National 

Park Service, Sequoia and Kings Canyon 

National Parks (SEKI) 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 Tulare County, CA. 

DATES: Repatriation of the human 

remains and associated funerary objects 

in this notice may occur on or after 

October 30, 2023. 

ADDRESSES: Clayton Jordan, 

Superintendent, Sequoia and Kings 

Canyon National Parks, 47050 Generals 

Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271, 

telephone (559) 565–3101, email 

clayton_jordan@nps.gov. 

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 

Superintendent, SEKI. Additional 

information on the determinations in 

this notice, including the results of 

consultation, can be found in the 

inventory or related records held by 

SEKI. 

Description 

Human remains representing, at 

minimum, four individuals were 

removed from Tulare County, CA, in 

1960 through archeological excavations 

undertaken at the Hospital Rock site by 

Jay von Werlholf from the College of the 

Sequoias. All materials collected from 

the site were held at the College of the 

Sequoias until 1961 when the human 

remains were transferred to the 

University of California, Berkeley and 

all other materials were returned to 

Sequoia National Park. The human 

remains held at the University of 

California, Berkeley, and their 

associated funerary objects held by the 

NPS, were repatriated in 1991. 

Additional human remains were 

discovered in the Berkeley collections 

and repatriated by SEKI in 2005. In 

2022, human remains were identified in 

faunal materials from the Hospital Rock 

site. A review of the archeological and 

curatorial records also identified 

associated funerary objects. The 715 

associated funerary objects are 180 

pottery sherds, one baked clay fragment, 

one clay knob, 104 bone and shell 

beads, 50 awls, three bone needles, one 

decorated bone tube, 33 shell fragments, 

seven shell pendants, three pieces of 

worked antler and animal bone, one 

bone paddle, 10 animal bone fragments, 

two animal teeth, four fragments of 

wattle and daub, 45 steatite beads, five 

steatite pendant fragments, 41 steatite 

sherds, one arrow shaft straightener, 

three round stones, four rubbing stones, 

four stone paddles, 10 manos, 105 

projectile points, three projectile point 

blanks, seven lithic cores, 25 stone 

knives, 35 scrapers, one obsidian drill, 

five pieces of worked stone, one blue 

glass bead, five yellow ochre fragments, 

and 15 red ochre fragments. 

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 

information, archeological information, 

historical information, oral tradition, 

and expert opinion. 

Determinations 

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its 

implementing regulations, and after 

consultation with the appropriate 

Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 

organizations, SEKI has determined 

that: 

• The human remains described in 

this notice represent the physical 

remains of four individuals of Native 

American ancestry. 

• The 715 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 Big Sandy Rancheria 

of Western Mono Indians of California; 

Cold Springs Rancheria of Mono Indians 

of California; Northfork Rancheria of 

Mono Indians of California; Picayune 

Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of 

California; Santa Rosa Indian 

Community of the Santa Rosa 

Rancheria, California; Table Mountain 

Rancheria; Tule River Indian Tribe of 

the Tule River Reservation, California; 

and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk 

Indians of the Tuolumne Rancheria of 

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 30, 2023. If competing 

requests for repatriation are received, 

SEKI 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. SEKI 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 10.9, § 10.10, and 

§ 10.14. 

Dated: September 25, 2023. 

Melanie O’Brien, 

Manager, National NAGPRA Program. 

[FR Doc. 2023–21384 Filed 9–28–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–52–P 


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