84 FR 11823 - Notice of Inventory Completion: Fowler Museum at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

The Fowler Museum at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a written request to the Fowler Museum at UCLA. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 60 (Thursday, March 28, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11823-11824]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06000]



[[Page 11823]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0027390; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Fowler Museum at University of 
California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Fowler Museum at University of California Los Angeles 
(UCLA) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or 
Native Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is a 
cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 
Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request to the Fowler Museum 
at UCLA. If no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control 
of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal 
descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in 
this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the Fowler Museum at UCLA at the address in 
this notice by April 29, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Wendy G. Teeter, Ph.D., Fowler Museum at UCLA, Box 951549, 
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, telephone (310) 825-1864, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the Fowler Museum at 
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. The human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from San Luis Obispo County, California.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Fowler 
Museum at UCLA professional staff in consultation with representatives 
of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California. The Fowler Museum also consulted with the 
following non-federally recognized Indian groups: Barbareno/Ventureno 
Band of Mission Indians; Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation; and 
Northern Chumash Tribe.

History and Description of the Remains and Associated Funerary Objects

    In 1958, human remains representing, at minimum, four individuals 
were removed from site SLO-393, near Arroyo Grande Creek, in San Luis 
Obispo County, CA. Excavations in preparation for a planned dam were 
conducted on private land by William Wallace of the University of 
Southern California at the request of the National Park Service. The 
site dates to the Late Period (ca. 1670). The human remains consist of 
one formal burial of a juvenile and fragmentary remains representing 
three adults. No known individuals were identified. The 208 associated 
funerary objects include: 23 bone whistles, three bone sweat scrapers, 
three worked abalone shell fragments, one chert biface, one charmstone, 
one stone fragment, one steatite plume holder, one bag of soil, 68 
asphaltum fragments, 78 olivella shell beads, 17 dentallium shell 
beads, five stone pebbles, and six unmodified canid phalanges.
    In 1958, human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals 
were removed from site SLO-398, near Arroyo Grande Creek, in San Luis 
Obispo County, CA. Excavations in preparation for a planned dam were 
conducted on private land by William Wallace at the request of the 
National Park Service. The site dates to the Late Period (A.D. 1300-
1500). The human remains consist of the formal burial of an adult male 
and the fragmentary remains of an adult male. No known individuals were 
identified. The 102 associated funerary objects include: one large 
limestone worked cobble with pecking, four obsidian points, six 
obsidian flakes, 89 abalone shell disc beads, and two unmodified small 
mammal bone fragments.
    Between 1959 and 1960, human remains representing, at minimum, 10 
individuals were removed from the Alamo Creek site (CA-SLO-298) in San 
Luis Obispo County, CA. This collection resulted from excavations in 
preparation for the creation of the Vaquero Reservoir carried out on 
private land by a University of California Archeological Survey under 
the direction of Marcia Wire, Jack Smith, and David Pendergast under a 
permit from the National Park Service and on behalf of the Bureau of 
Reclamation. The collection was accessioned at UCLA in 1960. The site 
is identified as Proto-historic. Fragmentary human remains representing 
ten adults of unknown sex were identified from midden contexts. No 
known individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects were 
identified.
    Through consultation, the Fowler Museum has determined that all the 
above described sites lie within the traditional territory of the 
Chumash. This determination is consistent with ethnographic and 
historic documentation. The associated funerary objects in this notice 
are consistent with others that are attributable to groups ancestral to 
the present-day Chumash people. The material culture of the earlier 
groups living in the geographical area encompassing these sites is 
characterized by archeologists as having passed through various stages 
over the past 10,000 years. Many local archeologists assert that the 
changes in the material culture reflect evolving ecological adaptations 
and related changes in social organization of the same populations, and 
do not represent population displacements or movements. The same range 
of artifact types and materials were used from the early pre-contact 
period until historic times. Native consultants explicitly state that 
population mixing, which did occur on a small scale, would not alter 
the continuity of the shared group identities of people associated with 
specific locales. Based on this evidence, shared group identity may 
reasonably be traced between the earlier group at these sites and 
present-day Chumash people.

Determinations Made by the Fowler Museum at University of California 
Los Angeles

    Officials of the Fowler Museum at University of California Los 
Angeles have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 16

[[Page 11824]]

individuals of Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 310 objects 
described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed 
with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as 
part of the death rite or ceremony.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Santa 
Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, 
California.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Wendy G. Teeter, Ph.D., Fowler Museum at 
UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, telephone (310) 825-1864, 
email [email protected], by April 29, 2019. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects to the Santa Ynez Band of 
Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California may 
proceed.
    The Fowler Museum at the University of California Los Angeles is 
responsible for notifying the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission 
Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: February 25, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-06000 Filed 3-27-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P