[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 129 (Thursday, July 6, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38416-38417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10507]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: American Museum of Natural 
History, New York, NY

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 American Museum of Natural History, 
New York, NY. The human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed from Santa Barbara 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 American 
Museum of Natural History professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of 
the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.
    In 1876, human remains representing two individuals were collected 
from Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County, CA, by Stephen Bowers. The 
human remains were purchased from James Terry by the museum in 1891. 
The museum did not find any information on how or when Mr. Terry 
acquired the human remains and associated funerary objects from Mr. 
Bowers. No known individuals were identified. The four associated 
funerary objects are three copper spindles and one copper rod.
    The individual has been identified as Native American based on 
geographic and historical evidence. The associated funerary objects 
suggest that the human remains date to the contact period. Historic 
records identify the Chumash Indians as the inhabitants of the Santa 
Barbara area. The human remains were collected from Carpinteria, CA, 
which is the modern city nearly superimposed over the historic coastal 
Chumash settlement of Misopsno. In 1855, a small plot of land on a 
creek near the Santa Ynez Mission was given to the remaining Chumash 
Indians. One hundred and nine members of the tribe settled there, 
supporting a historical connection between the present-day Santa Ynez 
Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, 
California and the archeologically known Coastal Chumash.
    In 1882, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were collected from Burton Mound, Santa Barbara County, CA, by Ben 
Burton. The museum purchased the human remains from Mr. Terry in 1891. 
The museum did not find any information on how or when Mr. Terry 
acquired the human remains. No known individual was identified. No 
associated funerary objects are present.
    The individual has been identified as Native American based on 
geographical and historical information. Based on the occupation dates 
for the Burton Mound site, the human remains may be late precontact to 
contact in age. The human remains were collected from the postcontact 
territory of the Eastern Coastal Chumash. Archeological research 
indicates continuity in coastal Chumash society from at least the late 
precontact period and perhaps considerably earlier.
    At an unknown date, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were collected from San Miguel Island, Santa Barbara County, 
CA, by an unknown collector. The human remains were purchased by the 
museum in 1935 from Edward Oswald. It is unknown how or when Mr. Oswald 
acquired the human remains. No known individual was identified. The 433 
associated funerary objects are shell beads.
    The individual has been identified as Native American based on 
geographic and historical evidence. The associated funerary objects 
suggest that the human remains date to a period from circa A.D. 1500 
through the mid-nineteenth

[[Page 38417]]

century. San Miguel Island is one of the Channel Islands, which are 
historically associated with the Chumash people, and archeologists have 
suggested that there is considerable cultural continuity in this area. 
The establishment of Spanish missions resulted in the dispersal of the 
Island Chumash. The 109 Chumash Indians who settled on the small plot 
of land near the Santa Ynez Mission given to them in 1855, support a 
historical connection between the present-day Santa Ynez Band of 
Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California and 
the Island Chumash people.
    Officials of the American Museum of Natural History have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described 
above represent the physical remains of four individuals of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of the American Museum of Natural History 
also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the 437 
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 American 
Museum of Natural 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 Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission 
Indians of the Santa Ynez Reservation, California.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Nell Murphy, Director of Cultural Resources, 
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 
New York, NY 10024-5192, telephone (212) 769-5837, before August 7, 
2006. Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
to the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California may proceed after that date if no additional 
claimants come forward.
    The American Museum of Natural History is responsible for notifying 
the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Mission Indians of the Santa Ynez 
Reservation, California that this notice has been published.

    Dated: May 24, 2006.
C. Timothy McKeown,
Acting Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E6-10507 Filed 7-5-06; 8:45 am]
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