[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5367-5368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1271]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: 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 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 in the possession of the UCLA, Fowler Museum of Cultural 
History, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from a site 
on the north shore of Buena Vista Lake, Kern 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.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by UCLA Fowler 
Museum of Cultural History professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa 
Rancheria, California (also known as the Tachi Yokut Tribe), and the 
Tinoqui-Chalola Council of Kitanemic and Yowlumne Tejon Indians, a non-
federally recognized Indian group.
    In 1940 or 1941, human remains representing a minimum of three 
individuals were removed from the Cole's Levee site in Kern County, CA, 
by Ralph Beals and a University of California, Los Angeles field class 
to salvage a cremation mortuary area discovered in oil fields. The 
collection was accessioned by the University of California, Los Angeles 
in 1953. No known individuals were identified. The 90 associated 
funerary objects are 1 serpentine bead, 3 projectile points, 3 olivella 
beads, 73 stone fragments, 3 bags of burned animal bone, 3 bags of 
shell fragments, and 4 utilized flakes.
    The artifacts are consistent with others documented as associated 
with the indigenous inhabitants of the area. The beads and projectile 
points associated with the burials date between Middle Period phase 5 
and Late Period

[[Page 5368]]

phase 1 (A.D. 900-1500). Lake Buena Vista is located within the 
traditional territory of the Yokut tribe. In addition, cremation was a 
burial custom in the Yokut ethnohistorical period. According to 
archeologists, the Yokut have occupied the territory around Tulare Lake 
and Buena Vista Lake for as long as two millennia.
    A representative of the Tinoqui-Chalola Council of Kitanemic and 
Yowlumne Tejon Indians (a non-federally recognized Indian group), 
identified the area as being within the traditional territory of the 
Yowlumne Band of Yokut Indians. Furthermore, tribal representatives 
from Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, 
California (also known as the Tachi Yokut Tribe) identified this site 
as being within the traditional territory of the Yokut people. 
Descendants of the Yokut are members of the Picayune Rancheria of 
Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian Community of the 
Santa Rosa Rancheria, California (also known as the Tachi Yokut Tribe); 
Table Mountain Rancheria of California; Tule River Indian Tribe of the 
Tule River Reservation, California; and two non-federally recognized 
Indian groups, called the Wuchumni Tribe of Yokut Indians and Yowlumne 
Band of Indians.

    Officials of the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9-10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of three individuals of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the UCLA Fowler Museum of 
Cultural History also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 
3001(3)(A), the 90 objects 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. Lastly, officials 
of the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History have determined that, 
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 Picayune 
Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa Indian 
Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California (also known as the 
Tachi Yokut Tribe); Table Mountain Rancheria of California; Tule River 
Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California; and two non-
federally recognized Indian groups, called the Wuchumni Tribe of Yokut 
Indians and Yowlumne Band of Indians. The University of California, Los 
Angeles has received a claim from the Santa Rosa Indian Community of 
the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California (also known as the Tachi Yokut 
Tribe) for the human remains and associated funerary objects from the 
Cole's Levee site.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the 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, CA 90095-1405, telephone (310) 825-1864, 
before March 3, 2006. Repatriation of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to the Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa 
Rancheria, California (also known as the Tachi Yokut Tribe) may proceed 
after that date if no additional claimants come forward.
    UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History is responsible for notifying 
the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians of California; Santa Rosa 
Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria, California (also known as 
the Tachi Yokut Tribe); Table Mountain Rancheria of California; Tule 
River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, California; Wuchumni 
Tribe of Yokut Indians (a non-federally recognized Indian group); and 
Yowlumne Band of Indians (a non-federally recognized Indian group) that 
this notice has been published.

    Dated: January 4, 2006.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-1271 Filed 1-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-S