[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 63 (Monday, April 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19702-19704]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-7872]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2253-665]


Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: 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, in 
consultation with the appropriate tribes, has determined that the 
cultural items meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects and 
repatriation to the Indian tribes stated below may occur if no 
additional claimants come forward. Representatives of any Indian tribe 
that believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural item 
may contact the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a 
cultural affiliation with the cultural item 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,

[[Page 19703]]

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. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the 
control of the California Department of Parks and Recreation that meet 
the definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001. 
The unassociated funerary objects were removed from eight 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 cultural item. The National Park Service is not responsible 
for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Items

    The unassociated funerary objects were removed from eight sites 
located in San Diego County, CA. The geographical location of these 
eight sites indicates the unassociated funerary objects were recovered 
within the historically documented territory of the Kumeyaay. 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.
    In 1949, archeologist Malcolm Rogers excavated site CA-SDI-913 
(Arrowmaker's Ridge) within Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, and human 
remains from this site were in the possession of the San Diego Museum 
of Man. One artifact from site CA-SDI-913, a ceramic bow pipe, is in 
the possession of California State Parks. The ceramic bow pipe is an 
unassociated funerary object based on the proximity of human burials in 
the area, the ceremonial nature of the object, and the common use of 
similar objects in burial contexts.
    In 1960, archeologist Malcolm Rogers collected a ceramic pipe bowl 
fragment from site CA-SDI-948 (Indian Gorge) in the Anza Borrego Desert 
State Park, a site consisting of a rock shelter and associated village 
complex known to contain cremated human remains. The pipe bowl fragment 
is an unassociated funerary object based on the proximity of human 
cremation burials in the area, the ceremonial/personal nature of the 
object, and the burned exterior which is consistent with exposure to 
heat during cremation.
    In 1976, archeologists with the Archaeological Survey Association 
(A.S.A) collected a buffware pipe handle fragment and cremated human 
remains from site CA-SDI-4009 in the McCain Valley Recreation Area. The 
human remains have been repatriated, but the pipe handle fragment 
remains in the possession of California State Parks. The pipe handle 
fragment is an unassociated funerary object based on the proximity of 
human burials in the area, the ceremonial nature of the object, and the 
common use of similar objects in burial contexts.
    At an unknown date, Lloyd Findley collected 33 burnt Olivella shell 
beads, two burnt bone beads, and a ceramic pipe stem fragment from an 
unknown site in the Mason Valley area of Anza Borrego Desert State 
Park. The objects are unassociated funerary objects based upon the 
proximity of extensive and concentrated village sites with cremation 
burials in the area, the ceremonial/personal nature of the objects, and 
the burned exterior which is consistent with exposure to heat during 
cremation.
    At an unknown date prior to 1979, an unidentified individual 
collected a burnt ceramic pipe bowl fragment from an unidentified site 
in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, and the object was donated to the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation by Harry D. Ross in 1979. 
The ceramic pipe bowl fragment is an unassociated funerary object based 
on the proximity of extensive and concentrated village sites with 
cremation burials in the area, the ceremonial/personal nature of the 
object, and the burned exterior which is consistent with exposure to 
heat during cremation.
    At an unknown date, John Wright and Virginia Carlsberg collected 17 
burnt Olivella shell beads and two melted glass beads from an unknown 
site located near Fish Creek and Split Mountain in Anza Borrego Desert 
State Park. The objects are unassociated funerary objects based on the 
proximity of extensive and concentrated village sites with cremation 
burials in the area, the ceremonial/personal nature of the objects, and 
the burned exterior which is consistent with exposure to heat during 
cremation.
    At an unknown date, an unidentified person collected a Cerithiopsis 
shell altered with a hole punched near its outer lip and one lot of 
burned and unburned shell fragments from an unknown site near East Mesa 
within Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. The catalog records associate these 
objects with cremated human remains though the human remains do not 
appear to be in the possession of California State Parks. The objects 
are unassociated funerary objects based upon the catalog record, the 
proximity of extensive and concentrated village sites with cremation 
burials in the area, the ceremonial/personal nature of the objects, and 
the burned exterior which is consistent with exposure to heat during 
cremation.
    At an unknown date, an unidentified person collected two burnt 
Olivella shell beads and 47 melted glass beads from an unknown site 
within Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. The objects are unassociated 
funerary objects based on the proximity of extensive and concentrated 
village sites with cremation burials in the area, the ceremonial/
personal nature of the objects, and the burned exterior which is 
consistent with exposure to heat during cremation.

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(3)(B), the 110 cultural items 
described above 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 and is believed, by a preponderance of the 
evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native 
American individual.
    <bullet> Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the 
unassociated funerary objects and the 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

[[Page 19704]]

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; Manzanita Band of 
Diegueno Mission Indians of the Manzanita Reservation, California; Mesa 
Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation, 
California; San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California; 
and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation (hereafter referred to as 
``The Tribes'').

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with the unassociated funerary object should 
contact Rebecca Carruthers, NAGPRA Coordinator, California Department 
of Parks and Recreation, 1416 9th Street, Room 902, Sacramento CA 
95814, telephone (916) 653-8893, before May 2, 2012. Repatriation of 
the unassociated funerary objects 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. 2012-7872 Filed 3-30-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P