# Notice of Intended Repatriation: San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
**AGENCY:**
National Park Service, Interior.
**ACTION:**
Notice.
**SUMMARY:**
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), San Diego State University (SDSU) intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the definition of objects of cultural patrimony and that have a cultural affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice.
**DATES:**
Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on or after October 20, 2025.
**ADDRESSES:**
Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to Jaime Lennox, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182, email *[email protected].*
**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 SDSU, 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.
**Abstract of Information Available**
A total of four lots of cultural items (approximately 70 cultural items) have been requested for repatriation. The four lots of objects of cultural patrimony are one lot of lithics, one lot of groundstone, one lot of pottery sherds, and one lot of worked non-human faunal remains. In 1964, SDSU graduate student William R. James collected cultural items from within the states of Iowa, Missouri, and North Dakota for a project under the University of Wisconsin funded by the National Science Foundation; shortly thereafter, the resulting collection was received by SDSU as a gift from the Sioux City Public Museum. It is unknown whether any potentially hazardous substances were used to treat the objects of cultural patrimony.
**Determinations**
SDSU has determined that:
• The four 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 Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
**Requests for Repatriation**
Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under *ADDRESSES* . 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 20, 2025. If competing requests for repatriation are received, SDSU 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. SDSU 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.
*Authority:* Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.
Dated: September 4, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.