Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of the Interior

###### National Park Service

          - [NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0039255; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

# AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

# ACTION:

Notice.

# SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of California, Riverside 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.

# DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after January 29, 2025.

# ADDRESSES:

                        Megan Murphy, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA 92517-5900, telephone (951) 827-6349, email                         *megan.murphy@ucr.edu.*

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

## Abstract of Information Available

Based on the information available, human remains representing, at least, one individual has been reasonably identified. The three associated funerary objects are one lot of lithic materials, one lot of pottery sherds, and one lot of grinding stones. In 1975, the University of California, Riverside Archaeological Research Unit (UCRARU) was contracted by Hirsch and Koptionak Consulting Engineers and Planners to conduct an archaeological filed reconnaissance of the Mason Valley Ranch. The property is in Oriflamme Canyon, adjacent to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in central San Diego County. During the survey archaeologists recorded twenty archaeological sites and a test unit in archaeological site CA-SDI-4812. Archaeologists removed approximately 175 items from the unit including pottery sherds, lithic materials, and grinding stones. A burnt bone fragment was also removed from the unit and initially identified as faunal remains. In 2024, at the request of tribal representatives, an osteologist reviewed the bone fragment and identified it as a human rib fragment. During consultation tribal representatives also identified the objects in the collection to be associated funerary objects. In the report for the project, ARU Report #151, archaeologists noted that cremation burials have been previously identified in the canyon as well as village sites and surface artifacts. Tribal representatives confirmed this to be true during consultation and noted that they had conducted repatriations of other burials removed from the area.

## Cultural Affiliation

Based on the information available and the results of consultation, cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice.

## Determinations

The University of California, Riverside has determined that:
    - The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
    - The three objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
    - There is a reasonable connection between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice 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; 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; 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; 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.

## Requests for Repatriation

                    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 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 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 January 29, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received,                           ( print page 106574)                        the University of California, Riverside 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. 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.                

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

Dated: December 19, 2024.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2024-31303 Filed 12-27-24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4312-52-P