2018-22797. Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: Fowler Museum at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Fowler Museum at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations, has determined that the cultural items listed in this notice meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects. Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request to the Fowler Museum at UCLA. If no additional claimants come forward, transfer of control of the cultural items 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 claim these cultural items should submit a written request with information in support of the claim to the Fowler Museum at UCLA at the address in this notice by November 19, 2018.

ADDRESSES:

Wendy G. Teeter, Ph.D., Fowler Museum at UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the intent to repatriate cultural items under the control of the Fowler Museum at UCLA that meet the definition of unassociated funerary objects under 25 U.S.C. 3001.

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 cultural items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

History and Description of the Cultural Item(s)

In 1958 and 1959, three cultural items were removed from CA-SDI-525 (W-9) in San Diego County, CA. Carl L. Hubbs, G. Shumway, J. Moriarity, and Claude Warren conducted excavations during the construction of two homes on Scripps Estate Association Lots. The site was dated to the Middle Holocene (between 7,000 and 5,500 B.P.) based on radiocarbon dating. In 1959, the collections were sent to UCLA for curation. 16 burials were uncovered, of which seven were left in situ, two burials (9 and 10) were supposedly sent to UCLA, and the rest were curated with J.R. Moriarty, UC Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Burials 9 and 10 cannot currently be located, although they are reported to have been sent to “Stanford” for dating and despite extensive investigations. Funerary objects were identified in the collections as being removed from these two burials. There were three objects including one stone metate, one shell fragment, and one soil sample. Since the represented burials have not been located these burial items are eligible as NAGPRA unassociated funerary objects.

The site detailed in the paragraphs preceding has been identified through consultation to be within the aboriginal territory of the Kumeyaay people. Based on archeological evidence, geographic location, ethnographic information, and oral history evidence, these funerary objects are consistent with those of ancestral Kumeyaay people, represented by the Campo Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Campo Indian Reservation, California; Capitan Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California (Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Barona Reservation, California; Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation, California); Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians, California; Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, California (previously listed as the Santa Ysabel Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Santa Ysabel Reservation); Inaja Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Inaja and Cosmit Reservation, California; Jamul Indian Village of California; La Posta Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the La Posta Indian Reservation, California; Manzanita Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Manzanita Reservation, California; Mesa Grande Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation, California; San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians of California; and Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation (hereafter referred to as “The Tribes”).

Determinations Made by the Fowler Museum at UCLA

Officials of the Fowler Museum at UCLA have determined that:

• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(B), the three cultural items described above 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 and are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the unassociated funerary objects and The Tribes.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to claim these cultural items should submit a written request with information in support of the claim to Wendy G. Teeter, Ph.D., Fowler Museum at UCLA, Box 951549, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, telephone [phone], email [e-mail], by November 19, 2018. After that date, if no additional claimants have come forward, transfer of control of the unassociated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.

The Fowler Museum at UCLA is responsible for notifying The Tribes that this notice has been published.

Dated: September 6, 2018.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.