[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 197 (Thursday, October 10, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 63154]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-25873]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains 
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the UCLA Fowler 
Museum of Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, Los 
Angeles, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native 
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 43 CFR 10.9, 
of the completion of an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects in the possession of the UCLA Fowler Museum of 
Cultural History, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 
CA.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 43 CFR 10.2 (c). The 
determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of these Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within this 
notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the UCLA 
Fowler Museum of Cultural History professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of 
the Pechanga Reservation, California.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing one individual were 
recovered by Eugene Nickens under unknown circumstances from the Perris 
site (CA-RIV-126), Riverside County, CA. These human remains were 
donated by Mr. Nickens to the University of California, Los Angeles in 
1951. No known individual was identified. The 18 associated funerary 
objects are 16 pottery sherds, 1 deer scapula, and 1 bird bone. The age 
of the site has not been determined, however, the presence of ceramics 
suggests a protocontact or postcontact date. The site is located within 
the traditional territory of the Luiseno Mission Indians. The artifacts 
are consistent with others documented as associated with the indigenous 
inhabitants of the area. Raymond Basquez, Chairperson of the tribal 
Cultural Resources Department, Elder, and traditional religious leader, 
identified the deer scapula as a ceremonial sweat scraper and the 
pottery sherds as possibly part of a ceremonial urn. He also identified 
the site as being within the ancestral territory of the Pechanga Band 
of the Luiseno Mission Indians of the Pechanga Reservation, California.
    In 1965, human remains representing one individual were removed 
from the Rancho site (CA-RIV-364), Riverside County, CA, by Dr. Joseph 
L. Chartkoff. Dr. Chartkoff donated these human remains to the 
University of California, Los Angeles the same year. No known 
individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    The Rancho site (CA-RIV-364) is close to the present-day Pechanga 
Reservation, in the valley of Temecula Creek. Geographical location and 
archeological and oral traditional evidence support the association of 
this site with precontact and historic village sites within the 
territory of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the 
Pechanga Reservation, California. The site is well known, by both oral 
tradition and archeological documentation, to be a precontact and 
postcontact cremation and burial site. Some artifacts collected from 
the surface, such as a plate fragment, broken glass, lathe-turned 
inkbottle, and metal button, appear to date to the Spanish or Mexican 
period in California. According to Mr. Basquez, when traditional 
cremation practices gave way after contact to inhumation, Luiseno 
peoples' personal possessions often were collected, burned, and placed 
at traditional cremation/cemetery areas even though the person may have 
been buried elsewhere. The Rancho site was visited by members of the 
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians Cultural Committee, who identified the 
human remains and artifacts collected there as part of the traditional 
Luiseno cremation and memorial offering rites. Tizon Brown pottery 
sherds found at the site are consistent with a Late Prehistoric and 
historic age.
    Officials of the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History have 
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (d)(1), the human remains 
listed above represent the physical remains of two individuals of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the UCLA Fowler Museum of 
Cultural History have also determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 
(d)(2), the 18 objects listed 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. Lastly, it has been 
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), there is a relationship 
of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between these 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects and the 
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, Pechanga Reservation, 
California.
    This notice has been sent to officials of the Pechanga Band of 
Luiseno Mission Indians, Pechanga Reservation, California. 
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to be 
culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Diana Wilson, UCLA NAGPRA Coordinator, Office of 
the Vice Chancellor, Research, University of California, Los Angeles, 
Box 951405, Los Angeles, California 90095-1405, telephone (310) 825-
1864, before November 12, 2002. Repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects to the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission 
Indians, Pechanga Reservation, California may begin after that date if 
no additional claimants come forward.

    Dated: August 28, 2002
Robert Stearns,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 02-25873 Filed 10-9-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-S