# Notice of Intended Repatriation: University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
**AGENCY:**
National Park Service, Interior.
**ACTION:**
Notice.
**SUMMARY:**
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 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 January 20, 2026.
**ADDRESSES:**
Send additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items in this notice to Alexandra Lucas, Government and Community Relations, Office of the Chancellor. University of California, Berkeley, 200 California Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, 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 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.
**Abstract of Information Available**
A total of 51 lots of cultural items in the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology (Museum) at the University of California, Berkeley have been requested for repatriation.
In 1907, with the financial sponsorship of Phoebe A. Hearst, Alfred L. Kroeber acquired 49 lots of objects of cultural patrimony from Morongo Reservation, Riverside County, California toward the establishment of the Museum. The objects of cultural patrimony include bows, arrows, baskets, vessels, seed beaters, carrying nets, bone tools, and stone tools.
In 1927, Horatio Shumway Lee donated one object of cultural patrimony, a basket, to the Museum. Museum records note the basket as having been collected by Sarah E. Gilman, a teacher from the U.S. Indian Day School, Potrero, on Morongo Band of Mission Indians' reservation.
In 1965, the Heintz family donated one object of cultural patrimony to the Museum. The object of cultural patrimony is a basket with a tag indicating it was made in Morongo.
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.
**Determinations**
The University of California, Berkeley has determined that:
• The 51 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 reasonable connection between the cultural items described in this notice and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, California.
**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 January 20, 2026. 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.
*Authority:* Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3004 and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9.
Dated: December 11, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.