Bureau Returns California Native Remains to Tribes
Published Date: 3/19/2025
Notice
Summary
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has finished checking human remains and artifacts found at a site in California. These remains are linked to Native American tribes, and they’re ready to be returned starting April 17, 2025. This means the tribes can reclaim their ancestors’ items, with no costs or delays expected.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Repatriation available April 17, 2025
One set of human remains (representing at least one individual) and seven associated funerary objects (one basalt scraper plane, one piece of miscellaneous groundstone, and five pieces of mixed debitage) may be returned to affiliated parties on or after April 17, 2025.
Affiliation identified with Klamath and Modoc
The Bureau of Reclamation determined there is a reasonable connection between the recovered human remains and associated funerary objects and the Klamath Tribes and the Modoc Nation, based on archaeological evidence and consultation, including occupation dating from approximately A.D. 250 to 1350 and a radiocarbon date of A.D. 1340.
Who may request repatriation and dispute rules
Repatriation requests may be submitted by any one or more of the Indian Tribes identified in this notice, or by a lineal descendant or tribe/organization not identified who shows by a preponderance of the evidence that they are a lineal descendant or culturally affiliated; if competing requests are received, the Bureau of Reclamation will determine the most appropriate requestor, and joint requests are treated as a single request.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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