[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6118-6119]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02227]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-17400; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: California State University, 
Sacramento, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: California State University, Sacramento has completed an 
inventory of human remains, in consultation with the appropriate Indian 
tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there 
is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and present-day 
Indian tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or 
representatives of any Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of 
these human remains should submit a written request to California State 
University, Sacramento. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains to the lineal descendants, 
Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice 
may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to 
California State University, Sacramento at the address in this notice 
by March 6, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Orn Bodvarsson, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and 
Interdisciplinary Studies, CSUS, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-
6109, telephone (916) 278-4864, email [email protected].

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 California State University, Sacramento. The human 
remains were removed from Sacramento and Yolo counties, 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 California 
State University, Sacramento professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of 
California; Cachil DeHe Band of Wintun Indians of the Colusa Indian 
Community of the Colusa Rancheria, California; California Valley Miwok 
Tribe, California; Ione Band of Miwok Indians of California; Santa Rosa 
Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California; Shingle 
Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona 
Tract), California; Susanville Indian Rancheria, California; United 
Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California; Wilton 
Rancheria, California; and Nashville-Eldorado Miwok, a non-Federally 
recognized Native American group. Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk 
Indians of California; Cortina Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians of 
California; Jackson Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California; Picayune 
Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California; Table Mountain Rancheria 
of California; Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians of the Tuolumne 
Rancheria of California; Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River 
Reservation, California; Wiyot Tribe, California (previously listed as 
the Table Bluff Reservation-Wiyot Tribe); Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, 
California (previously listed as the Rumsey Indian Rancheria of Wintun 
Indians of California); and the Miwok Tribe of the El Dorado Rancheria, 
a non-Federally recognized Native American group, were also contacted 
by California State University, Sacramento.

History and Description of the Remains

    Sometime during the 1920s and 1930s, human remains representing, at 
minimum, one individual, were removed from private property on CA-SAC-
157 (also known as Wamser Mound), located on the south bank of the 
American River near River Bend Park of Rancho Cordova in north-central 
Sacramento County, CA. The human remains were in the possession of 
Anthony Zallio, a private collector, who posthumously donated his 
collection in 1951 to the Department of Anthropology at Sacramento 
State College, CA (now California State University, Sacramento). No 
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects are 
present.
    Archeological data from the site indicates occupation occurred 
during the Middle and Late Horizons. Additional archeological data 
suggests occupation may have lasted into an unknown time during the 
Historic period.
    Sometime during the 1920s and 1930s, human remains representing, at 
minimum, six individuals, were removed from CA-YOL-013 (also known as 
the Mustang site), located on the south bank of the Sacramento River at 
the confluence of the Sacramento River, Feather River, and Sacramento 
Slough in west-central Yolo County, CA. The human remains were in the 
possession of Anthony Zallio, a private collector, who posthumously 
donated his collection in 1951 to the Department of Anthropology at 
Sacramento State College, CA (now California State University, 
Sacramento). No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects are present.
    Archeological data indicates occupation of the site occurring as 
early as Phase 1 of the Late Horizon, lasting until an unknown time 
during the historic period. Ethnographic evidence suggest that CA-YOL-
013 may be the site of a large historic Nisenan Village known as Hol'-
lo-wi or a close association thereof.
    Archeological evidence indicates that the lower Sacramento Valley 
and Delta regions were continuously occupied since at least the Early 
Horizon (5550-550 B.C.). Cultural changes indicated by artifact 
typologies and burial patterns, historical linguistic evidence, and 
biological evidence reveal that the populations in the region were not 
static, with both in situ cultural changes and migrations of outside 
populations into the area. Linguistic evidence suggests that ancestral-
Penutian speaking groups related to modern day Miwok, Nisenan, and 
Patwin groups occupied the region during the Middle (550 B.C.-A.D. 
1100) and Late (A.D. 1100-Historic) Horizons, with some admixing 
between these groups and Hokan-speaking groups that occupied the region 
at an earlier date. The genetic data suggests that the Penutians may 
have arrived later than suggested by the linguistics.
    Geographical data from ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources 
indicate that the site was most likely occupied by Nisenan-speaking 
groups at the beginning of the historic period, while Patwin-speakers 
occupied the valley west of the Sacramento River and Miwok-speakers 
resided south of the American River. Ethnographic data and expert 
testimony from Tribes support the high level of interaction between 
groups in the lower Sacramento Valley and Delta regions that crosscut 
linguistic boundaries. Historic population movements resulted in an

[[Page 6119]]

increased level of shifting among populations, especially among 
populations who were impacted by disease, violence, and Euro-American 
activities relating to Sutter's Fort and later gold-rush activities.
    In summary, the ethnographic, historical, and geographical evidence 
available indicate that the burials listed above are most closely 
affiliated with contemporary descendants of the Nisenan with more 
distant ties to neighboring groups, such as Miwok, Patwin, and Yokut. 
The earlier remains from the Middle and Late Horizons share cultural 
relations with the Plains Miwok, Nisenan, and Yokut based on 
archeological, biological, and historical linguistic evidence.

Determinations Made by California State University, Sacramento

    Officials of California State University, Sacramento have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 7 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     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 Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, 
Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona Tract), California and United Auburn 
Indian Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Orn 
Bodvarsson, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and 
Interdisciplinary Studies, CSUS, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-
6109, telephone (916) 278-4864, email [email protected], by March 
6, 2015. After that date, if no additional requestors have come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains to the Shingle 
Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Rancheria (Verona 
Tract), California and United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn 
Rancheria of California may proceed.
    California State University, Sacramento is responsible for 
notifying the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs 
Rancheria (Verona Tract), California and United Auburn Indian Community 
of the Auburn Rancheria of California that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: December 29, 2014.
Melanie O'Brien,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2015-02227 Filed 2-3-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-P