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University of California, Riverside
Summary of NAGPRA Activities

September 11, 2018

Below is a brief summary of UC Riverside collections that are subject to NAGPRA and efforts by UC
Riverside to continue its positive relationship with regional tribes.

I. Nature and Extent of Collections

The collections at UC Riverside include several that were donated to the campus apparently sometime in
the 1960s. These collections are almost entirely lacking in provenience information, and attributing them
to any geographic area or tribal group is therefore very difficult. There are examples of human skeletal
remains in these culturally unidentifiable collections.

The remainder of the collections were acquired in the course of archaeological fieldwork by faculty, staff,
and students of UC Riverside. Five collections contain human remains that were culturally affiliated to
specific tribal groups. Five collections contain unassociated funerary objects: two are culturally
unidentifiable and three have been affiliated with a specific tribal group. Notices of Inventory Completion
for the human remains were published in the Federal Register. A single repatriation of culturally affiliated
human remains was made to the Serrano tribe, San Manuel Reservation, in 2004. The remaining
culturally affiliated human remains and cultural items are awaiting repatriation despite efforts from UC
Riverside to repatriate.

II. Tribal Consultations and Interactions

Since the early 2000s, Profs. Phil Wilkie, Scott Fedick, and Cliff Trafzer have been in contact with and
consulted with the Cahuilla Inter-Tribal Repatriation Committee, every Cahuilla Tribe, and the several
Luiseno groups to inform them of the UC Riverside collection. We have actively reached out to tribes and
encourage them to begin the repatriation process. Under the leadership of Wilkie, UC Riverside
repatriated remains to the San Manuel Tribe.

In 2016, the chair of the Inter-Tribal Cahuilla group visited the campus and viewed all Cahuilla remains
and objects. The tribe made no request to repatriate. UC Riverside is making a renewed effort to consult
with Cahuilla and Luiseño representatives to repatriate the remaining items that have been culturally
affiliated.

In early 2017, the Director of the Colorado River Indian Reservation Museum (CRIRM), asked to set up
a consultation to see all the objects Professor Phil Wilkie (now retired) had excavated at the Whipple
Cave, located in eastern California near the Colorado River. Professor Wilkie and Dr. Matthew Hall,
Curator, Archaeological Curation Unit, met with the CRIRM Director to consult by sharing all the objects
found by Wilkie and his team. Wilkie and Hall eagerly revealed each finding at every level of the
archaeological dig. The CRIRM Director was able to photograph most of the collection to document the
dig and place the photos in the tribal museum. Wilkie answered questions and shared his knowledge.

This fall, Cliff Trafzer will meet and consult with the tribal archeologist for the Pechanga Band of
Luiseño Indians.