Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, Sacramento, CA, 74992-74994 [2024-20871]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 178 (Friday, September 13, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74992-74994]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-20871]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038693; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Sacramento District, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento 
District, 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 October 15, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Michelle Fitzgerald, Physical Anthropologist and NAGPRA 
Liaison, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, 1325 J 
Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, telephone (916) 557-7114, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the

[[Page 74993]]

National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, and additional 
information on the determinations in this notice, including the results 
of consultation, can be found in its inventory or related records. The 
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this 
notice.

Abstract of Information Available

    Human remains representing, at least, 51 individuals have been 
identified from site CA-GLE-10/H, in Glenn County, CA. The 1,842 
associated funerary objects are: 337 beads, 17 bear claws, one 
botanical, one bottle, five buckles, six buckles with leather, one 
bullet mold, 321 buttons, nine charmstones, one clock, two cloth/
textile fragments, 67 coffin components, 41 coins, one comb, one 
cufflink, eight fastening caps, 13 faunal bones, one piece of glass, 
one harmonica, three lithic flakes, 10 lithic tools, 79 metal objects, 
one nail, 18 ornamental items, one pencil lead, three pestles, one pipe 
stem, three pocket knives, two pocket watches, 22 projectile points, 
five rings, one rosette, one rubber ball, one scissors, one Shaman's 
purse, 69 unmodified shells, 489 shell beads, 223 shell ornaments/
pendants, 10 shoe fragments, seven unmodified stones, two modified 
stones, one telescope fragment, one thimble, one tube, 18 utensils, 
five violin fragments, one lot of trade and shell beads, one lot of 
bead and button fragments, six lots of beads, five lots of coffin 
components, one lot of metal objects, 14 lots of shell beads, one lot 
of burial soil, and one lot of violin fragments.
    In 1961, a salvage excavation conducted by archaeologists 
affiliated with San Francisco State College, now San Francisco State 
University, took place in the Brownell Indian Cemetery (CA-GLE-10/H) 
which removed human remains from multiple unmarked burials, as well as 
the remains of Mr. James (Jim) Brown, identified later through written 
accounts of his funeral and funerary objects. The individuals and 
associated funerary objects from this investigation have been in the 
custody of San Francisco State University since their excavation. Black 
Butte Dam and Lake staff and a Sacramento District archaeologist 
collected additional human remains and associated funerary objects in 
1989, after CA-GLE-10/H was accidently impacted by heavy machinery. 
These human remains and cultural items were housed at the Black Butte 
Dam and Lake Project Office and Sacramento District Office until they 
were transferred in 2018 by the Sacramento District to the Veterans 
Curation Program (VCP) in San Mateo, CA, where they remain.
    Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been 
identified from site CA-GLE-11, in Glenn County, CA. The 37 associated 
funerary objects are: one charmstone, one clam shell disc bead, five 
faunal bones, one piece of glass, nine lithic tools, five manos, three 
pecking stones, five pestles, two petal stones, and five projectile 
points.
    In 1960, San Francisco State College, under contract to the 
National Park Service, initiated archaeological excavations at site CA-
GLE-11 as part of the salvage archaeology program for the proposed 
Black Butte Reservoir. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects have been in the custody of San Francisco State College, now 
San Francisco State University, since their excavation.
    Human remains representing, at least, nine individuals have been 
identified from site CA-TEH-10, in Tehama County, CA. The 1,881 
associated funerary objects are: three beads, 36 botanical items, 12 
pieces of charcoal, two pieces of baked clay, 466 faunal bones, 117 
fire-cracked rocks, two groundstone, one hammerstone, six lithic cores, 
765 lithic flakes, 14 lithic tools, one mano, one piece of metal 
hardware, one metate, five mortars, 17 nails, three pestles, one piece 
of plastic, 32 projectile points/fragments, nine soil samples, three 
unmodified stones, one piece of wood, 23 lots of botanicals, 280 lots 
of charcoal, two lots of faunal bones, two lots of radiocarbon samples, 
65 lots of soil, one lot of mixed soil and charcoal, and 10 lots of 
wood.
    CA-TEH-10 was excavated in 1983 and 1986 by archaeologists 
affiliated with California State University, Sacramento under contract 
with the Sacramento District. The site was comprised of a large burial 
ground with two cemeteries, the human remains from which were thought 
to have been reburied in 1985 and 1990 at a private cemetery. However, 
some cultural materials recovered from the site were transferred to the 
California State University, Sacramento's Archaeological Study Center 
for curation as Accession #81-138. In 2021, the Sacramento District 
transferred these items to the VCP in San Mateo, CA. During review of 
the items, Sacramento District staff identified human remains. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects are currently housed at 
the VCP.
    No information is available that would indicate that any of the 
human remains or cultural items in this notice have been treated with 
potentially hazardous substances.

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 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 61 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 3,760 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 connection between the human remains and 
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Grindstone 
Indian Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians of California and the 
Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians 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 
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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with 
cultural affiliation.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after October 
15, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, 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 U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District, is responsible for sending a 
copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.

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

    Dated: September 5, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-20871 Filed 9-12-24; 8:45 am]
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