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###### Department of the Interior

###### National Park Service

          - [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037486; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

# AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

# ACTION:

Notice.

# SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), California State University, Sacramento and California State Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and have determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Sacramento County, CA.

# DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after March 29, 2024.

# ADDRESSES:

                        Dr. Mark Wheeler, Chief of Staff to President Luke Wood, California State University, Sacramento, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819, telephone (916) 460-0490, email                         *mark.wheeler@csus.edu*                         and Dr. Lisa Bright, Branch Chief District 3, Cultural Resources (South), California State Department of Transportation, 703 B Street, Marysville, CA 95901, telephone (530) 812-4569, email                         *Lisa.Bright@dot.ca.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 California State University, Sacramento and Caltrans. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by California State University, Sacramento and Caltrans.

## Description

                    In 1954-1956, 1967 and 1972, human remains representing, at minimum, 486 individuals were removed from CA-SAC-29 (also known as Roeder Mound and                     *Sama*). The 1954-56 excavations were carried out by Sacramento State College (now California State University, Sacramento) under the direction of Richard Reeve and Brigham Arnold. The 1967 excavations were carried out by the State Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) for Caltrans under the direction of William Prichard. A salvage excavation done under the direction of Jerald J. Johnson for Pacific Gas and Electric in 1972, a 1990 donation of human remains and artifacts made by a private collector, and a 1950s donation of artifacts by the estate of Anthony Zallio to the University are also part of the assemblage. Occupation of the site is estimated to have occurred during the Early through Historic periods. The 643,304 associated funerary objects removed from this site include baked clay objects; ash; modified bones, stones, and shells; historic materials; flaked and ground stones; thermally-altered rocks; textiles; floral and faunal remains; pigment; unmodified stones; cooking stones; coprolites; mud dauber nests; soil and column samples; modern refuse; and unidentified materials. Of this number, at least 198 objects are currently missing from the collection and California State University, Sacramento continues to look for them. An unknown number of additional objects are also missing.                

## 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                           ( print page 14705)                        Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological, archeological, folkloric, geographical, historical, kinship, linguistic, oral traditional, and expert opinion.                

## Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, California State University, Sacramento and Caltrans has determined that:
    - The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 486 individuals of Native American ancestry.
    - The 643,304 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 Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California; Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California; Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California; Jackson Band of Miwuk Indians; Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract), California; United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California; and the Wilton Rancheria, 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 March 29, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, California State University, Sacramento and Caltrans 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. California State University, Sacramento and Caltrans are responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in this notice.

                    This notice was submitted before the effective date of the revised regulations (88 FR 86452, December 13, 2023, effective January 12, 2024). As the notice conforms to the mandatory format of the                     **Federal Register**                     and includes the required information, the National Park Service is publishing this notice as submitted.                

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

Dated: February 20, 2024.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2024-04099 Filed 2-27-24; 8:45 am]

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