<NOTICE>
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
<SUBAGY>National Park Service</SUBAGY>
<DEPDOC>[N6546; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041133; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]</DEPDOC>
<SUBJECT>Notice of Intended Repatriation: University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA</SUBJECT>
<HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD>
National Park Service, Interior.
<HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD>
Notice.
<SUM>
<HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD>
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of California, Berkeley intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, and/or objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
</SUM>
<DATES>
<HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD>
Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on or after October 27, 2025.
</DATES>
<HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD>
Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to Alexandra Lucas, Repatriation Coordinator, Government and Community Relations, Office of the Chancellor. University of California, Berkeley, 200 California Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, email
<E T="03">nagpra-ucb@berkeley.edu.</E>
<SUPLINF>
<HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD>
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, Berkeley, and additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the summary or related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
<HD SOURCE="HD1">Abstract of Information Available</HD>
A total of 12 cultural items in the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley have been requested for repatriation.
In June 1948, Clement W. Meighan via the University of California Archaeological Survey removed 10 lots of unassociated funerary objects from CA-RIV-9 and two lots of objects of cultural patrimony from Toro Canyon in Riverside County, California. The 10 lots of unassociated funerary objects include worked stone, pottery, stone tools, and faunal remains. The 2 lots of objects of cultural patrimony include pottery.
Collections and collection spaces at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology were treated with substances for preservation and pest control, some potentially hazardous. No records have been found to date at the Museum to indicate whether or not chemicals or natural substances were used prior to 1960.
<HD SOURCE="HD1">Determinations</HD>
The University of California, Berkeley has determined that:
• The 10 lots of unassociated funerary objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near human remains, and are connected, either at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony of a Native American culture according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization. The unassociated funerary objects have been identified by a preponderance of the evidence as related to human remains, specific individuals, or families, or removed from a specific burial site or burial area of an individual or individuals with cultural affiliation to an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
• The 2 lots of objects of cultural patrimony described in this notice have ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance central to the Native American group, including any constituent sub-group (such as a band, clan, lineage, ceremonial society, or other subdivision), according to the Native American traditional knowledge of an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization.
• There is a connection between the cultural items described in this notice and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, California.
<HD SOURCE="HD1">Requests for Repatriation</HD>
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under
<E T="02">ADDRESSES</E>
. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by 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 cultural items in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after October 27, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the University of California, Berkeley must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural items are considered a single request and not competing requests. The University of California, Berkeley is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice and to any other consulting parties.
<E T="03">Authority:</E>
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.
<SIG>
<DATED>Dated: September 11, 2025.</DATED>
<NAME>Melanie O'Brien,</NAME>
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
</SIG>
</SUPLINF>
<FRDOC>[FR Doc. 2025-18580 Filed 9-24-25; 8:45 am]</FRDOC>
</NOTICE>
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