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 PMAE, 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 11 cultural items have been requested for repatriation. The eight sacred objects are eight lots of baskets from Inyo County and/or Kern County, California with locations identified as Kelsey Canon; Tejon; or Tejon Pass. Collectors and donors include Lewis Hobart Fellow (Donated: 1903-1905; 1907), Grace A. Nicholson (Collection: Unknown date; 1904; 1907), Edward O. Tuttle (Donated: 1905), Charles Presby Wilcomb (Unknown collection date), Eleanor Gardiner (Donated: 1928) and one unknown collector (Collected: 1855).

The three objects of cultural patrimony are one lot of a brush for cleaning baskets (made from soap root), one lot of ground stone, charm stone or plummet, and one lot of ground stone pipe fragments (tubular in shape) from Kern County, California. Collectors and donors include Lewis Hobart Fellow (Donated: January 1905), Grace A. Nicholson (Unknown collection date), Brown University (Donated: December 1923), John Whipple Potter “J.W.P.” Jenks (Unknown collection date), and Jules Marcou (Collected: 1875; Donated: December 1885)

Determinations

The PMAE has determined that:

• The eight sacred objects described in this notice are specific ceremonial objects needed by a traditional Native American religious leader for present-day adherents to practice traditional Native American religion, according to the Native American traditional knowledge of a lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian organization.
• The three 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 Tejon Indian Tribe.

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 May 4, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the PMAE 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 PMAE 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.

91 FR 16735