2019-09305. Notice of Inventory Completion: Fowler Museum at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

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 June 6, 2019.

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. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects under the control of the Fowler Museum at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from an unknown site in San Bernardino County, CA.

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 Museum professional staff in consultation with representatives of Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation, California and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of California, hereafter referred to as “The Tribes.”

History and Description of the Remains

In 1984, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from an unknown site in San Bernardino County, CA. In 1984, the UCLA library received a donation of fragmentary human and animal remains labeled as having been collected from an old Indian burial ground near the Ord Mountains, in the Mojave Desert. The library transferred these remains to the Fowler Museum at UCLA without donor information. No known individuals were identified. The two associated funerary objects are unmodified artiodactyl mandible fragments.

The geographic location provided for this collection lies within the ancestral territory of the Chemehuevi. In addition to the label describing the remains as having been removed from an Indian burial ground near Ord Mountains, representatives of Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation, California and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of California have presented oral traditional information to show that ancestral groups and/or specific clans or lineages from their cultures inhabited the Ord Mountains and Mohave Desert from the very earliest of times.

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 one individual of Native American ancestry.
• Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the two 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 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 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 [phone], email [e-mail], by June 6, 2019. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.

The Fowler Museum at University of California Los Angeles is responsible for notifying The Tribes that this notice has been published.

Dated: April 16, 2019.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.