8012
. As used in this chapter, terms shall have the same meaning as
in the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Act (25 U.S.C. Sec. 3001 et seq.), as interpreted by federal
regulations, except that the following terms shall have the following
meaning:
(a) "Agency" means a division, department, bureau, commission,
board, council, city, county, city and county, district, or other
political subdivision of the state, but does not include a school
district.
(b) "Burial site" means, except for cemeteries and graveyards
protected under existing state law, a natural or prepared physical
location, whether originally below, on, or above the surface of the
earth, into which human remains were intentionally deposited as a
part of the death rites or ceremonies of a culture.
(c) "Commission" means the Native American Heritage Commission,
established pursuant to Section 5097.91 of the Public Resources Code.
(d) "Cultural items" shall have the same meaning as defined by
Section 3001 of Title 25 of the United States Code, except that it
shall mean only those items that originated in California.
(e) "Control" means having ownership of human remains and cultural
items sufficient to lawfully permit a museum or agency to treat the
object as part of its collection for purposes of this chapter,
whether or not the human remains and cultural items are in the
physical custody of the museum or agency. Items on loan to a museum
or agency from another person, museum, or agency shall be deemed to
be in the control of the lender, and not the borrowing museum or
agency.
(f) "State cultural affiliation" means that there is a
relationship of shared group identity that can reasonably be traced
historically or prehistorically between members of a present-day
California Indian Tribe, as defined in subdivision (j), and an
identifiable earlier tribe or group. Cultural affiliation is
established when the preponderance of the evidence, based on
geography, kinship, biology, archaeology, linguistics, folklore, oral
tradition, historical evidence, or other information or expert
opinion, reasonably leads to such a conclusion.
(g) "Inventory" means an itemized list that summarizes the
collection of human remains and associated funerary objects in the
possession or control of an agency or museum. This itemized list may
be the inventory list required under the federal Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. Sec. 3001 et seq.).
(h) "Summary" means a document that summarizes the collection of
unassociated funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural
patrimony in the possession or control of an agency or museum. This
document may be the summary prepared under the federal Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. Sec. 3001
et seq.).
(i) "Museum" means an entity, including a higher educational
institution, excluding school districts, that receives state funds.
(j) "California Indian tribe" means any tribe located in
California to which any of the following applies:
(1) It meets the definition of Indian tribe under the federal
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C.
Sec. 3001 et seq.).
(2) It is not recognized by the federal government, but is
indigenous to the territory that is now known as the State of
California, and both of the following apply:
(A) It is listed in the Bureau of Indian Affairs Branch of
Acknowledgement and Research petitioner list pursuant to Section 82.1
of Title 25 of the Federal Code of Regulations.
(B) It is determined by the commission to be a tribe that is
eligible to participate in the repatriation process set forth in this
chapter. The commission shall publish a document that lists the
California tribes meeting these criteria, as well as authorized
representatives to act on behalf of the tribe in the consultations
required under paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 8013 and
in matters pertaining to repatriation under this chapter. Criteria
that shall guide the commission in making the determination of
eligibility shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(i) A continuous identity as an autonomous and separate tribal
government.
(ii) Holding itself out as a tribe.
(iii) The tribe as a whole has demonstrated aboriginal ties to the
territory now known as the State of California and its members can
demonstrate lineal descent from the identifiable earlier groups that
inhabited a particular tribal territory.
(iv) Recognition by the Indian community and non-Indian entities
as a tribe.
(v) Demonstrated membership criteria.
(k) "Possession" means having physical custody of human remains
and cultural items with a sufficient legal interest to lawfully treat
the human remains and cultural items as part of a collection. The
term does not include human remains and cultural items on loan to an
agency or museum.
(l) "Preponderance of the evidence" means that the party's
evidence on a fact indicates that it is more likely than not that the
fact is true.