2023-17130. Notice of Inventory Completion: Fowler Museum at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, and California Department of Transportation, Sacramento, CA

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) with the assistance of the Fowler Museum at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Los Angeles County, CA.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after September 11, 2023.

ADDRESSES:

Emily Castano, California Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 942874 MS 27, Sacramento, CA 94271–0001, telephone [phone], email [e-mail].

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 Caltrans. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related records held by Caltrans.

Description

In 1997, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were removed from site CA–LAN–2233 in Los Angeles County, CA. Caltrans initiated an emergency effort to recover burials located in the path of a construction project to improve State Route 126. Following the recovery, human remains and one associated funerary object were sent to the University of California, Riverside (UCR) radiocarbon dating lab for dating. In August of 2021, UCR sent the human remains and the associated funerary object listed in this notice to the Fowler Museum at UCLA. The one associated funerary object is an elk antler.

Cultural Affiliation

The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The following types of information were used to reasonably trace the relationship: anthropological, archeological, geographical, historical, oral traditional, and expert opinion.

Determinations

Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, Caltrans has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The one object 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.
• There is a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES . Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:

1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.

2. 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 human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after September 11, 2023. If competing requests for repatriation are received, Caltrans must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects are considered a single request and not competing requests. Caltrans is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe identified in this notice.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, and 10.14.

Dated: August 2, 2023.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.