[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 63 (Monday, April 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19689-19690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-7875]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Inventory Completion: California Department of Parks 
and Recreation, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The California Department of Parks and Recreation has 
completed an inventory of human remains, in consultation with the 
appropriate Indian tribes, and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and present-day Indian tribes. 
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains may contact the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation. Repatriation of the human remains 
to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no additional claimants 
come forward.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the human should contact the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation at the address below by May 2, 2012.

ADDRESSES: Rebecca Carruthers, NAGPRA Coordinator, California 
Department of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street, Room 902, 
Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 653-8893.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains under 
the control of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. The 
human remains were removed from three sites located in San Diego 
County, CA.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation professional staff in 
consultation with representatives of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla 
Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, California; Augustine 
Band of Cahuilla Indians, California (formerly the Augustine Band of 
Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Augustine Reservation); Cabazon Band of 
Mission Indians, California; Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the 
Cahuilla Reservation, California; Campo Band of Diegueno Mission 
Indians of the Campo Indian Reservation, California; Capitan Grande 
Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California: Barona Group of Capitan 
Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Barona Reservation, California, 
and Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians 
of the Viejas Reservation, California; Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay 
Indians, California; Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, California (formerly 
the Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Santa Ysabel 
Reservation); Inaja Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Inaja and 
Cosmit Reservation, California; Jamul Indian Village of California; La 
Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the La Posta Indian 
Reservation, California; Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno 
Indians, California (formerly the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla & Cupeno 
Indians of the Los Coyotes Reservation); Manzanita Band of Diegueno 
Mission Indians of the Manzanita Reservation, California; Mesa Grande 
Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation, 
California; Morongo Band of Mission Indians, California (formerly the 
Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of the Morongo Reservation); 
Ramona Band of Cahuilla, California (formerly the Ramona Band or 
Village of Cahuilla Mission Indians of California); San Pasqual Band of 
Diegueno Mission Indians of California; Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla 
Indians, California (formerly the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Mission 
Indians of the Santa Rosa Reservation); Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay 
Nation; and Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, California 
(formerly the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians of 
California) (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    The human remains were removed from three sites located in San 
Diego County, CA. The geographical location of these sites indicates 
that the human remains were recovered within the historically 
documented territory shared by the Cahuilla and the Kumeyaay. Northern 
areas of the Anza Borrego

[[Page 19690]]

Desert State Park, such as the San Felipe Creek drainage, Culp Valley, 
Pinyon Ridge, the Borrego Badlands, and the Borrego Valley, may have 
formed a so-called ``transitional zone'' between the Cahuilla and the 
Kumeyaay. The two groups would have used the areas jointly or, as 
convenient, for subsistence or ceremonial needs.
    The traditional territory of the Kumeyaay includes a significant 
portion of present-day San Diego County up to the Aqua Hedionda area 
and inland along the San Felipe Creek (just south of Borrego Springs). 
Bound to the east by the Sand Hills in Imperial County and includes the 
southern end of the Salton Basin and all of the Chocolate Mountains, 
the territory extends southward to Todos Santos Bay, Laguna Salada and 
along the New River in northern Baja California. The central and 
southern portions of Anza Borrego Desert State Park lie within the 
traditional territory of the Kumeyaay.
    The traditional aboriginal territory of the Cahuilla, as defined by 
anthropologist Lowell John Bean, encompasses a geographically diverse 
area of mountains, valleys and low desert zones. The southernmost 
boundary approximately followed a line from just below Borrego Springs 
to the north end of the Salton Basin and the Chocolate Mountains. The 
eastern boundary ran along the summit of the San Bernardino Mountains. 
The northern boundary stood within the San Jacinto Plain near 
Riverside, while the base of Palomar Mountain formed the western 
boundary. According to Bean and archeologist William D. Strong, the 
northern end of Anza Borrego Desert State Park lies within the 
traditional territory of the Cahuilla and includes the areas of Borrego 
Palm Canyon, Coyote Canyon, Clark Valley, the Santa Rosa Mountains, 
Jackass Flat, Rockhouse Canyon and Horse Canyon.
    At an unknown date in the 1930s, a human incisor representing, at 
minimum, one individual was collected by Harry D. Ross from an 
unidentified site and added to the Harry D. Ross Collection. The Harry 
D. Ross collection, consisting primarily of flaked tools collected from 
Lower Borrego, Cuyamaca and Harper Flat, were later donated to the 
Bigole Archaeological Research Center in Borrego Springs, CA. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present. 
The age of the human remains is unknown. Given the lack of specific 
provenience, the geographical location of the site is impossible to 
determine. Based on the provenience of other objects in the Harry D. 
Ross Collection, it can be reasonably assumed that these remains were 
collected from the same geographic region as other objects in the 
collection.
    At an unknown date in the 1970s, cremated human remains 
representing, at minimum, one individual were collected by archeologist 
William Seidel from an unidentified site northwest of the Borrego Sink 
in Borrego Springs, CA. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present. The age of the human remains 
is unknown.
    At an unknown date prior to 1977, human remains representing, at 
minimum, one individual were removed by an unidentified individual from 
an unidentified site in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park and were 
donated to California State Parks by Lloyd T. Findley in 1977. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present. 
The age of the human remains is unknown.
    At an unknown date prior to 1976, cremated human remains 
representing, at minimum, one individual were removed by an 
unidentified individual from an unidentified site in the Anza Borrego 
Desert State Park in San Diego County, CA, and were donated anonymously 
to California State Parks in 1976. No known individual was identified. 
No associated funerary objects are present. The age of the human 
remains is unknown.
    At an unknown date prior to the 1970s, cremated human remains 
representing, at minimum, one individual were removed by an 
unidentified individual from an unidentified site in the Borrego Valley 
area of Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The cremated human remains were 
included in the DuVall Collection, which was later donated to 
California Department of Parks and Recreation in the 1970s. The DuVall 
Collection represents cultural materials collected on and around an 
early settlers' ranch in Borrego Valley. No known individual was 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present. The age of the 
human remains is unknown. Given the lack of specific provenience, the 
geographical location of the site is impossible to determine. Based on 
the provenience of the other objects from the DuVall Ranch in Borrego 
Valley, it can be reasonably assumed that these remains were collected 
from the same geographic region.
    The human remains listed above were stored at facilities within the 
Colorado Desert District of the California Department of Parks and 
Recreation until an inventory effort was begun in 2004. Since then, the 
remains have been stored at the Bigole Archaeological Research Center 
(BARC-2) in Borrego Springs, CA.

Determinations made by the California Department of Parks and 
Recreation

    Officials of the California Department of Parks and Recreation have 
determined that:
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of five individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and The Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Rebecca 
Carruthers, NAGPRA Coordinator, California Department of Parks and 
Recreation, 1416 9th Street, Room 902, telephone (916) 653-8893, before 
May 2, 2012. Repatriation of the human remains to The Tribes may 
proceed after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The California Department of Parks and Recreation is responsible 
for notifying The Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 28, 2012.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2012-7875 Filed 3-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P